Family: Plethodontidae, Lungless Salamanders view all from this family

Description 2 1/2-5 1/2" (6.4-14.1 cm). The most common dusky. Pale line from eye to angle of jaw. Juveniles have 5-8 pairs of round yellowish spots on back that quickly fade as animal ages. Adults tan or dark brown above, plain or mottled, often with wavy stripe on each side of back. Pattern becomes obscured by dark pigment with age. Tail triangular, sharply keeled, compressed. Costal grooves, 14.

Breeding June to September; lays compact, grapelike cluster of 1-3 dozen eggs near water, beneath rocks, in rotting logs, stream-bank cavities. Larvae hatch in 6-13 weeks at 5/8" (16 mm); transform in 6-13 months at 1 1/2" (38 mm). Mature in 3-4 years.

Habitat Rock-strewn woodland creeks, seepages, and springs in northern areas; floodplains, sloughs, and mucky sites along upland streams in more southerly areas. Near sea level to about 5,300' (1,615 m).

Range S. New Brunswick and se. Quebec south to e. Kentucky and Carolinas.

Discussion Where ranges coincide, Northern Dusky, Seal, and Black-bellied Salamanders often share the same stream, but Northern Dusky likes higher streambank elevations. It is often found with the Northern Red Salamander. It eats insect larvae, sow bugs, and earthworms. The Northern Dusky and the Spotted Dusky (D. conanti) were formerly considered subspecies of the same species. Adult Spotted Duskies retain the juvenile pattern of reddish or golden spots; they have a more southerly distribution than the Northern, found from s. Illinois, w. Tennessee, and w. South Carolina to the Gulf.