Tennessee Cave Salamander
This permanently aquatic salamander inhabits cave streams and pools in the southern Cumberland Plateau and related karst, with Tennessee holding the core of its known range.
Artwork inspired by Bessie Harvey
This permanently aquatic salamander inhabits cave streams and pools in the southern Cumberland Plateau and related karst, with Tennessee holding the core of its known range. Cool cave streams, rimstone pools, and subterranean water connected to limestone karst. Feeds on small aquatic invertebrates in food-limited darkness and depends on clean groundwater.
Present underground year-round; sightings depend on authorized cave access and stable water conditions. Do not enter closed caves, handle salamanders, disinfect inside habitat, or disturb stream stones. For Tennessee Cave Salamander, the cited federal or Tennessee wildlife source documents Tennessee as the endemic or core primary range.
- Primary range
- Tennessee
- Field mark
- external gills
- Habitat cue
- cave-stream pools
Quick guide
- Recognition
- Pinkish to pale body, small eyes, external gills, and a laterally compressed tail adapted to water.
- Where it belongs
- Cool cave streams, rimstone pools, and subterranean water connected to limestone karst.
Learn the species by reading its habitat
- Identification
- Pinkish to pale body, small eyes, external gills, and a laterally compressed tail adapted to water.
- Habitat
- Cool cave streams, rimstone pools, and subterranean water connected to limestone karst.
- Ecology
- Feeds on small aquatic invertebrates in food-limited darkness and depends on clean groundwater.
- Observe responsibly
- Do not enter closed caves, handle salamanders, disinfect inside habitat, or disturb stream stones.
Good to know
Do not enter closed caves, handle salamanders, disinfect inside habitat, or disturb stream stones. This card is for habitat-aware learning, not a promise of a sighting.
Notice these
- external gills
- cave-stream pools
- clean groundwater