THE CENTER FOR NORTH AMERICAN HERPETOLOGY
Loading taxon account
Retrieving account information and occurrence data...

Amphibia    Caudata    Plethodontidae  

Many-lined Salamander
Stereochilus marginatus (Hallowell, 1856)
STEER-ee-oh-KILL-us — mar-jih-NAY-tus

SSAR 9th Edition Comments:
 There are no current SSAR comments for this taxon.

(,   Museum Voucher) (,   Observation) (,   Literature Record), (,   Citizen Science), (  Fossil)
Open icons indicate questionable records, including those with coordinate uncertainty greater than 10,000 m (approximately 6 miles). Click a marker to view metadata.
Occurrences:; 597 Total; 549 Museum; 48 Other

The locality database contains 8,094,832 records, and geographic and taxonomic errors exist. Logged-in, registered users may report a potential issue directly from the marker popup.
Shaded range maps are based on curated specimens and provided gratis by CNAH. (Version: 2023.04.10.13.21.19)
Download map data (GeoJSON):
Polygon Range File Museum Literature Fossil Personal Observation Citizen Science

Province/State Distribution:
United States: Florida Georgia North Carolina South Carolina Virginia

Taxonomic Etymology:
A slender salamander with distinct body margins and many dorsal lines.
Stereochilus — From Greek stereos (στερεός), “solid,” and cheilos (χεῖλος), “lip” or “margin.” Likely refers to the prominent or well-defined lateral edges or lip-like structures in the gill or mouth region.
marginatus — From Latin marginatus, “bordered” or “having a margin.” Refers to the distinct lines or edges along the body, possibly highlighting its lateral striping.

First instance(s) of published English names:
Margined Triton (Sterochilus marginatum: Yarrow, Henry C. 1882. Check list of North American Reptilia and Batrachia with catalogue of specimens in U. S. National Museum. Bulletin of the United States National Museum (24):1-249); Margined Salamander (Stereochilus marginatus: Brimley, Clement S. 1915. List of reptiles and amphibians of North Carolina. Journal of the Elisha Mitchell Scientific Society 30(4):195-206); Many-lined Salamander (Sterochilus marginatus: 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);

Taxon Links:

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

Selected References:
1856 Hallowell, Edward. Notes on the reptiles in the collection of the Academy of Natural Sciences of Philad'a. Proceedings of the Academy of Natural Sciences of Philadelphia 8:221-238
1966 Rabb, George B. Stereochilus and S. marginatus.. Catalogue of American Amphibians and Reptiles (25):1-2
1971 Bruce, Richard C. Life cycle and population structure of the salamander Stereochilus marginatus in North Carolina. Copeia 1971(2):234-246
2010 Kozak, Kenneth H. and John J. Wiens. Accelerated rates of climatic-niche evolution underlie rapid species diversification. Ecology Letter 13:1378-1389

THE CENTER FOR NORTH AMERICAN HERPETOLOGY — Accessed: Sunday 06 September 2026 15:24 CT
Site concept, design, and programming: Travis W. Taggart (CNAH President/Executive Director).
CNAH usage since 31 August 2026: 31,614 human page views • 13,330 visitors • 12,824 file accesses