Cavechat.org

A couple of days ago I came across a salamander unlike the ones I normally see in caves. It was light green with black spots. I see the red ones frequently, but I don't recall ever seeing one this color. I wonder if someone more knowledgeable on the subject might know what type this is. It was in a very small cave in Anderson County, Tennessee.

Here is a pic of one I have seen here in Marion County, Tennessee..



"Aneides aeneus - A beautiful, rarely seen salamander (8 – 14 cm), the green salamander spends much of its time on sandstone, or sometimes limestone, rock faces with many crevices, or more rarely in trees or under the loose bark of fallen timber. This salamander has a black base color with a yellowish-green, lichen-like pattern upon the back. It has a flattened body, long legs and square toe tips, all adaptations for living on cliffs. Females of this species deposit their eggs in moist crevices in the rock face and will actively protect their eggs from small predators and fungus. The range of this species is rather limited in Tennessee, being confined mainly to the Cumberland Mountain, Highland Rim and Cumberland Plateau physiographic provinces."

Source: http://www.tn.gov/twra/tamp/salamanders.shtml

Thank you. That looks just like the one I saw.