THE CENTER FOR NORTH AMERICAN HERPETOLOGY

Amphibia    Caudata    Plethodontidae  

Western Grotto Salamander
Eurycea spelaea (Stejneger, 1892)
yoor-EE-see-uh — spuh-LEE-uh

SSAR 9th Edition Comments:
 The Standard English name "Western Grotto Salamander" was used by Raeffeli (2022, Salamanders & Newts of the World. Plumelec, France). (Pyron, R. Alexander, Christopher K. Beachy, David A. Beamer, and Kenneth M. Kozak. 2025. Caudata – Salamanders. Pages 10-21 in Kirsten E. Nicholson (Editor), Scientific and Standard English Names of Amphibians and Reptiles of North America North of Mexico, with Comments Regarding Confidence in Our Understanding, 9th Edition. Society for the Study of Amphibians and Reptiles, Lawrence, Kansas. 87 pp.)

Range maps are based on curated specimens and provided gratis by CNAH.
(Created by Travis W. Taggart; Version: 2023.04.08.20.59.18)
Download GeoJSON polygon range file: - 0.09 MB

Province/State Distribution:
United States: Arkansas Kansas Missouri Oklahoma

Taxonomic Etymology:
Named for its cave-dwelling lifestyle.
Eurycea — Rafinesque (1822) intentionally used a mythological-sounding name, but its specific Greek meaning or derivation was not disclosed. So, while modern etymologists may connect Eurycea to Eurydice or Greek roots (eurys “broad”), Rafinesque himself treated it as a classical name without a defined origin.
spelaea — From Greek: spelaion (σπήλαιον) – “cave” Derived from Latinized Greek, spelaea means: “Of the cave” or “cave-dwelling”

First instance(s) of published English names:
Blind Salamander (Typhlotriton spelaeus: Hurter, Julius. 1911. Herpetology of Missouri. Transactions of the Academy of Science St. Louis 20(5):59-274); Veil-eyed Salamander (Typhlotriton spelaeus: Hurter, Julius. 1911. Herpetology of Missouri. Transactions of the Academy of Science St. Louis 20(5):59-274); Ozarks Blind Salamander (Typhlotriton spelaeus: Smith, Hobart M. 1934. The Amphibians of Kansas. American Midland Naturalist 15(4):377-527); Spring Grotto Salamander (Typhlotriton nereus: Conant, Roger, Fred R. Cagle, Coleman J. Goin, Charles H. Lowe, Wilfred T. Neill, M. Graham Netting, Karl P. Schmidt, Charles E. Shaw, Robert C. Stebbins, and Charles M. Bogert. 1956. Common names for North American amphibians and reptiles. Copeia 1956(3):172-185); Grotto Salamander (Typhlotriton spelaeus: Conant, Roger, Fred R. Cagle, Coleman J. Goin, Charles H. Lowe, Wilfred T. Neill, M. Graham Netting, Karl P. Schmidt, Charles E. Shaw, Robert C. Stebbins, and Charles M. Bogert. 1956. Common names for North American amphibians and reptiles. Copeia 1956(3):172-185); Western Grotto Salamander (Eurycea spelaea: Raffaelli, J. 2022. Salamanders & Newts of the World. Plumelec, France: Penclen Édition.. pp.);

Taxon Links:

  
Catalog of American Amphibians and Reptiles
  
Amphibian Species of the World
  
NatureServe
  
iNaturalist
  
GenBank
  
USGS - Nonindigenous Aquatic Species Database

Selected References:
1892 Stejneger, Leonhard H. Preliminary description of a new genus and species of blind cave salamander from North America. Proceedings of the United States National Museum 15:115–117
1939 Blair, Albert P. Records of the salamander Typhlotriton. Copeia 1939(2):108-109
1950 Mittleman, M. Budd. Cavern dwelling salamanders of the Ozark Plateau. Bulletin of the National Speleological Society 12:12-15
1965 Brandon, Ronald A. Typhlotriton, T. nereus, T. spealaeus. Catalogue of American Amphibians and Reptiles (20):1-2
1966 Brandon, Ronald A. A reevaluation of the status of the salamander, Typhlotriton nereus Bishop. Copeia 1966(3):555-561
1970 Brandon, Ronald A. Typhlotriton, T. spelaeus. Catalogue of American Amphibians and Reptiles (84):1-2
1993 Arnold, Steven J., Nancy L. Reagan, and Paul A. Verrell. Reproductive isolation and speciation in plethodontid salamanders. Herpetologica 49(2):216-228
2004 Bonett, Ronald M. and Paul T. Chippindale. Speciation, phylogeography and evolution of life history and morphology in plethodontid salamanders of the Eurycea multiplicata complex. Molecular Ecology 13(5):1189-1203
2010 Kozak, Kenneth H. and John J. Wiens. Accelerated rates of climatic-niche evolution underlie rapid species diversification. Ecology Letters 13:1378-1389
2017 Phillips, John G., Dante B. Fenolio, Sarah L. Emel, and Ronald M. Bonett. Hydrologic and geologic history of the Ozark Plateau drive phylogenomic patterns in a cave-obligate salamander. Journal of Biogeography 44:2463–2474
2022 Raffaelli, J. Salamanders & Newts of the World. Plumelec, France: Penclen Édition.. pp.

THE CENTER FOR NORTH AMERICAN HERPETOLOGY — Accessed: Friday 05 December 2025 16:59 CT