Species
Tennessee cave salamander
Gyrinophilus palleucus
A pale, gilled cave salamander of northwest Georgia's limestone caves.
Photo John G. Phillips (opens in a new tab) / iNaturalist, CC BY 4.0 (opens in a new tab)
At a glance
- Size
- Usually 10 to 20 cm long
- Habitat
- Streams and pools in limestone caves
- Diet
- Cave invertebrates
- In Georgia
- Caves of northwest Georgia; very rare
- Rabies vector
- No
Identification
- Key marks
- Pale pink to white with tiny eyes; feathery red gills; flat, broad head
- Told apart from
- Georgia blind salamander, which has no visible eyes and lives in the far southwest
- Where to look
- Only in caves; almost never seen
Behaviour
It keeps its gills and lives in cave streams all its life, hunting by touch in the dark.
Why they matter
It is one of the rarest salamanders in the Southeast and depends on clean cave water.
Reproduction and lifecycle
Eggs — Little is known
Hatching — Little is known
Larvae — Keeps its gills for life
Maturity — Little is known
Lifespan — Little is known
Habits — Fully aquatic
Living around people
- Caves where it lives are best left undisturbed.
Misconceptions
- Cave animals are blind. This one has tiny eyes, but depends on touch.
Related species
Seasonal activity
When this species is breeding, and when there are nests on the ground. Mowing during the shaded months is how most nests are found.
| Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Breeding | Jan: no | Feb: no | Mar: no | Apr: no | May: no | Jun: no | Jul: no | Aug: no | Sep: no | Oct: no | Nov: no | Dec: no |
| Active nests | Jan: no | Feb: no | Mar: no | Apr: no | May: no | Jun: no | Jul: no | Aug: no | Sep: no | Oct: no | Nov: no | Dec: no |
| Notes | In caves | In caves | In caves | In caves | In caves | In caves | In caves | In caves | In caves | In caves | In caves | In caves |
Where it lives
Recorded in 3 states and provinces. Each one links to the other animals there, and to the rehabilitators licensed for them.
If you found one
Answer a few questions and you will get a specific answer for what you are looking at.
I found an animal