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| The Red-back Salamander is 5-10 cm and is one of Algonquin Highlands’ salamander species which has no lungs. It has two colour phases: the red-back phase has a broad, red stripe down the back and tail; the lead-back phase has a dark grey or lead-coloured back. The side of the slender body are dark grey becoming mottled with light grey towards the belly. Very rarely all-red salamanders are found. The Red-back Salamander is found in woodlands, wooded ravines, and river valleys. Look for these salamanders under logs and rocks or in mosit rotting stumps. When disturbed they scurry into tunnels or wriggle deeper into the crumbling stump. This is our only salamander that is not dependant on standing water for larval development. Since all respiration must take place through the skin, the Red-back is restricted to moist environments. In many urban areas, this is the only salamander that can survive. This is, in part, the result of a life cycle that can be completed free of standing water; unlike other amphibians, the red-backs complete their development on land without becoming free-swimming gilled larvae. Larval development occurs entirely within the egg from which a tiny, fully formed salamander emerges. Courtship is stimulated by rain in September and October. The female retains the male's sperm during hibernation and lays six to ten white eggs in a damp site the following June. The eggs hatch in August and September when fully-formed two-centimetre salamanders emerge. During rainy periods they feed on spiders and small insects in the leaf litter on the forest floor. During dry periods they retreat to moist areas and will protect these feeding areas from competitors. They mark their territory using a secretion from glands under their chin. These chemicals act as warnings to other salamanders that they are trespassing and may be attacked. |
(Family Plethodontidae)
Plethodon cinereus
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