Looking for longicauda

[KevinS]

I'm doing my thesis work on Eurycea l. longicauda but I'd only ever found a handful here in WV. Fortunately I have a few friends from Kentucky who are avid cavers and they took me to some great herping areas both above and below ground. It's been a while since we made our first trip out there, but I'm just now getting around to posting the pictures. In a few hours of searching I found 2 Pseudotriton ruber, more Plethodon kentucki than I cared to count, several Eurycea cirrigera, a few Desmognathus fuscus, and 6 E. l. longicauda.

This was the first longicauda we found in a cave, and probably the largest I've seen so far.

That particular cave had an amazing abundance of Plethodon too. I think most were P. kentucki, but there may have been some glutinosus or other similar-looking species as well.

There were even cameo appearances by a few other amphibians in the caves.

Later I found a pair of longicauda within inches of one another. I would've assumed they were courting, but the female didn't appear to be gravid so maybe they just happened to be in the same spot. You can see the male's cirri in this picture.

After we re-surfaced I looked around a stream and a few trails briefly. That's when the Pseudotriton started turning up.

I've made a few trips to the area since then, but the only other species I've seen since the first trip is Gyrinophilus porphyriticus and I haven't uploaded those pics yet. I'll definitely be going back a lot in the spring when the longicauda start emerging again, but I may make another trip or two before then to see what I can still find.

 

[dane_zu]

awesome pics, i cant wait till march for herping

 

[Jennewt]

Nice pictures, thanks for posting!

 

[John]

Wonderful photos and a great account. Thank you Kevin .

 

[Kaysie]

This is exciting! We're going to the Smoky Mountains for spring break, so I hope to find some interesting critters (and avoid getting bit by rattlesnakes).

 

[Mark]

Wonderful! I really live on the wrong continent .

What does your thesis focus on?

 

[rust]

Very nice pics. I hope to hits a few caves up north soon too.

 

[KevinS]

Wonderful! I really live on the wrong continent .

What does your thesis focus on?

Sorry it took me a few days to post again, glad you guys enjoyed the pictures though. As far as my thesis, I'm planning to focus on this subspecies' reproduction and larval habitat as well as comparing the activity patterns of those in caves to those in surface habitats. I'm anxious for spring to come so I can get out in the field and get back to work.