Endangered Species Fact Sheet
West Virginia Field Office
 

CHEAT MOUNTAIN SALAMANDER
(Plethodon nettingi)

Status:
Threatened (1989).

Description:
The Cheat Mountain salamander belongs to a group known as the woodland salamanders (Plethodontids). The Cheat Mountain salamander is a small woodland species attaining a length of 10 centimeters (4 inches) from the tip of the snout to the tip of the tail. It is black or dark brown with brassy or silvery flecks above and uniformly dark gray beneath. The tail of this species is about the same length as its body, and the body has 17 to 19 costal grooves (vertical grooves along its sides).

Range:
The Cheat Mountain salamander is endemic to West Virginia. The entire range of this species is 2400 square kilometers (935 square miles). Within this area there exist many disjunct populations, ie., they are not in contact with each other. This salamander occurs in the high mountains of East Central West Virginia in Tucker, Grant, Randolph, Pendleton, and Pocohontas Counties from Backbone Mountain, Tucker County in the north to Thorny Flat, Pocahontas County in the south. There are 82 known populations of this species. It is generally found above 1130 meters (3,500 feet), however in the northern part of its range it extends down to 852 meters (2,640 ft).

Habitat:
Originally, the Cheat Mountain salamander was probably restricted to the red spruce forests of West Virginia's higher mountains. Since most of these forests were cut by 1920, several populations today occur in mixed deciduous forests that have replaced red spruce stands - most likely as a result of fire; these forests include yellow birch, American beech, sugar maple, striped maple, and Eastern hemlock trees. Typically, this species is found in cool, moist red spruce forests with a ground cover comprised of a liverwort called Bazzania and an abundance of leaf litter, fallen logs, and sticks.

Diet:
Like all woodland salamanders, the Cheat Mountain salamander preys on small insects and other invertebrates including mites, springtails, beetles, flies, and ants. On moist evenings it searches the forest floor, rocks, and logs for food. It will occasionally climb trees, shrubs, and stumps in pursuit of food.

Life History:
Cheat Mountain salamanders spend the winter underground where temperatures remain above freezing. When the weather warms up, usually around May, these salamanders emerge from underground. The female typically lays 8 to 10 eggs which are attached to the inside of a rotten log or the underside of a rock or log. The female guards the eggs until they hatch, a behavior unique to salamanders of the family Plethodontidae. The young undergo their larval stage within the egg so that they resemble small adults when they hatch in late August or September. The juveniles reach sexual maturity in 3-4 years and live for approximately 20 years. The young may remain in the same area as the adults until they become mature at which time they move away and establish territories. Territories are about five square meters (48 square feet) in area. Woodland salamanders seldom leave their territories and, as a result, move only a few meters during their lives.

Like all amphibians, salamanders lack an external covering of scales, hair, or feathers. Instead their skin is slimy and must stay moist. Lungless salamanders, such as the Cheat Mountain salamander, breathe through their skin and the lining of their mouths and therefore require a habitat that is moist and cool.

Threats:
The main threat to the Cheat Mountain salamander is degradation of high-elevation red spruce and spruce/northern hardwood forests. Any disturbance exposing the forest floor to sunlight changes the cool, moist conditions on which these animals depend for nest sites as well as food and oxygen procurement. Alterations as minor as clearing service roads or hiking trails can fragment and isolate populations as these salamanders do not cross bare surfaces. As populations become divided their gene pools decline and so do their chances of remaining viable. Scientists have speculated that habitat alterations may favor the encroachment of Allegheny mountain dusky and redback salamanders which subsequently out- compete the Cheat Mountain salamander for food, cover, and moist spots.

Recovery Opportunities:
Encourage landscape level planning to avoid development in suitable habitat. When take is unavoidable, work with private landowners to develop HCPs, which could include conservation measures such as repatriation efforts, and protection of other known populations.

Courtesy Shane Jones USFS Elkins, WV