KevinS
Member
- Joined
- May 12, 2007
- Messages
- 76
- Reaction score
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- Points
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- Location
- West Virginia
- Country
- United States
I've taken tons of pictures over the last few months while doing my field work and thought I'd share a few on here. These were all taken in the karst area of eastern KY which seems to be a fantastic locale for finding salamanders.
I'll start off with the Pseudotriton ruber. I've found several larvae and newly metamorphosed juveniles lately, and I turned up several adults about a month ago.
Juvenile:
Adult:
Old Adult:
Quick topic switch while I'm on Pseudotriton-I found this P. montanus diastictus here in WV a little while back. They're an S1 species and very rarely encountered here.
Gyrinophilus porphyriticus duryi are much brighter than the intergrades we have in my neck of the woods. I've found a few larvae of these that are a strange white color-I'm wondering if they might be leucistic. Unfortunately I have not yet taken any pictures of the white ones. Here are some colorful adults though.
This one was found 6 feet off the ground in a rock crevice nowhere near any permanent water source that I know of. I definitely wasn't expecting any in that spot.
Heavily speckled Eurycea cirrigera:
A not-so speckled E. cirrigera from the same location:
Get ready for a Plethodon kentucki overload. I see a lot more of these than P. glutinosus, especially inside the caves.
Finally the reason I go caving so much-Eurycea l. longicauda. I'm amazed at the diversity of patterns they display within a small area. I've also noticed several interesting behaviors in the species which I hope to expound on when my thesis is completed, but for now here are a few pictures.
This one looked quite unique. So far it's the only one out of about 50 to display this type of pattern.
This is always a good sign. Earlier in the year I wasn't finding any, but now I regularly turn up 5 or so in one spot.
This is my favorite individual so far. I've found it twice now outside the same cave entrance.
This one is another personal favorite. I really love the clean mid-dorsal stripe.
I think I'll stop there for now, but I'll probably be posting another update later on after I take another several hundred pictures. Thanks for looking.
I'll start off with the Pseudotriton ruber. I've found several larvae and newly metamorphosed juveniles lately, and I turned up several adults about a month ago.
Juvenile:
Adult:
Old Adult:
Quick topic switch while I'm on Pseudotriton-I found this P. montanus diastictus here in WV a little while back. They're an S1 species and very rarely encountered here.
Gyrinophilus porphyriticus duryi are much brighter than the intergrades we have in my neck of the woods. I've found a few larvae of these that are a strange white color-I'm wondering if they might be leucistic. Unfortunately I have not yet taken any pictures of the white ones. Here are some colorful adults though.
This one was found 6 feet off the ground in a rock crevice nowhere near any permanent water source that I know of. I definitely wasn't expecting any in that spot.
Heavily speckled Eurycea cirrigera:
A not-so speckled E. cirrigera from the same location:
Get ready for a Plethodon kentucki overload. I see a lot more of these than P. glutinosus, especially inside the caves.
Finally the reason I go caving so much-Eurycea l. longicauda. I'm amazed at the diversity of patterns they display within a small area. I've also noticed several interesting behaviors in the species which I hope to expound on when my thesis is completed, but for now here are a few pictures.
This one looked quite unique. So far it's the only one out of about 50 to display this type of pattern.
This is always a good sign. Earlier in the year I wasn't finding any, but now I regularly turn up 5 or so in one spot.
This is my favorite individual so far. I've found it twice now outside the same cave entrance.
This one is another personal favorite. I really love the clean mid-dorsal stripe.
I think I'll stop there for now, but I'll probably be posting another update later on after I take another several hundred pictures. Thanks for looking.