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Species authority page

Two-lined salamander

Eurycea cirrigera · Salamanders and newts · Amphibians

Two-lined salamander (Eurycea cirrigera): Small: about 6-12 cm total length, tail nearly half of total length. Yellow-orange to rusty body with two dark-brown stripes running its length that break into speckling toward 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 cirrigera
Family
Plethodontidae
In North America
Native
Range
Illinois, Indiana, southern Ohio, western West Virginia and central Virginia south to northern Florida, southern Alabama, southern Mississippi and southeastern Louisiana. Not in Canada.
Biology

How to identify it

Small: about 6-12 cm total length, tail nearly half of total length. [1][2]

Yellow-orange to rusty body with two dark-brown stripes running its length that break into speckling toward the tail. [1][2]

Back and often sides speckled with dark-brown spots. [1][2]

14 costal grooves (northern two-lined has 15 or 16). [1][2]

Breeding males grow two cirri, small antenna-like lobes hanging from the snout. [1][2]

Compared with the northern two-lined salamander: 15-16 costal grooves; occurs to the north. [1][2]

Compared with the dwarf salamander: Only four toes on each hind foot. [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 two-lined salamander before you act. Compared with the northern two-lined salamander: 15-16 costal grooves; occurs to the north.[1][2]
Field knowledge

Where it lives

Rocky brooks, springs, seepages, river swamps and forested floodplains with stagnant pools; may disperse into wooded uplands in wet weather. [1][2]

Field knowledge

How it behaves

Cryptic; spends most time under logs or foliage and emerges to forage on the forest floor on damp nights; sometimes active by day in shaded wet areas. [1][2]

Males may be territorial toward other males. [1][2]

Often seen crossing roads in rainy weather during the breeding season; eggs are laid on or under submerged rocks, logs or plants, in winter in the south. [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

Illinois, Indiana, southern Ohio, western West Virginia and central Virginia south to northern Florida, southern Alabama, southern Mississippi and southeastern Louisiana. Not in Canada.

Biology

Sources

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

  1. NatureServe · reviewed 2026-09-30

    NatureServe

  2. University of Michigan Museum of Zoology · reviewed 2026-09-30

    University of Michigan Museum of Zoology