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Three-lined salamander

Eurycea guttolineata · Salamanders and newts · Amphibians

Three-lined salamander (Eurycea guttolineata): Mid-sized, slender: 4-6.25 in (10-15.9 cm). Tan to light yellow with three bold black longitudinal stripes from the eyes to the tail. This profile does not establish whether taking it is legal anywhere.

Check rules for a place and date

Certified rules currently represented in Hunt: coverage in development. This is coverage, not a legal answer.

Scientific name
Eurycea guttolineata
Family
Plethodontidae
In North America
Native
Range
Virginia and Tennessee south through the Carolinas, Georgia, Alabama and Mississippi to the Gulf Coast, including eastern Louisiana and western Florida; absent from southern Georgia, most of peninsular Florida and high Appalachian elevations. Not in Canada.
Biology

How to identify it

Mid-sized, slender: 4-6.25 in (10-15.9 cm). [1][2]

Tan to light yellow with three bold black longitudinal stripes from the eyes to the tail. [1][2]

Tail about two-thirds of total length. [1][2]

Underside boldly marbled black and white. [1][2]

Compared with the longtail salamander: Yellow to orange with vertical black bars on the tail rather than three bold body stripes. [1][2]

Species it is confused with

Check these before deciding what you are looking at. If you are not certain what it is, do not shoot.

Field notes

  • Identification Confirm a three-lined salamander before you act. Compared with the longtail salamander: Yellow to orange with vertical black bars on the tail rather than three bold body stripes.[1][2]
Field knowledge

Where it lives

Forested floodplains, ditches, damp streamsides, seepage springs, bottomland hardwood streams and cypress swamp edges; sometimes disperses into woods in wet weather. [1][2]

Field knowledge

How it behaves

Mostly active at night, emerging to hunt insects and other small invertebrates. [1][2]

Found under wood, rocks or other cover along streams and blackwater swamps. [1][2]

Breeds in fall and winter; eggs are laid in underground crevices near springs and streams and attended by the female; larvae are aquatic. [1][2]

Regulatory handoff

Limited legal take

Legal take of this species exists only under narrow conditions — a quota, a draw, a permit, a small area, or animals released or held on private land — set by the authorities below. Nowhere else is a legal opportunity implied, and Hunt shows one only where a certified rule establishes it.

Where legal take is listed

Being listed is not an open season. Seasons, zones, licences, methods and limits decide whether this animal may be taken on a given day and place — check Hunt or the authority before you go. Listings read 2026-09-30.

Geospatial intelligence

Where it is found

Virginia and Tennessee south through the Carolinas, Georgia, Alabama and Mississippi to the Gulf Coast, including eastern Louisiana and western Florida; absent from southern Georgia, most of peninsular Florida and high Appalachian elevations. Not in Canada.

Biology

Sources

Every claim above is attributed to one of these published sources.

  1. NatureServe · reviewed 2026-09-30

    NatureServe

  2. Savannah River Ecology Laboratory, University of Georgia · reviewed 2026-09-30

    Savannah River Ecology Laboratory, University of Georgia