Marbled Salamander

How to identify

• Black body with white or silver crossbands
• Bands more silvery in males, whiter in females
• Stout, heavy-bodied
• Medium size, 3.5–5 inches
• Terrestrial, found under logs and in leaf litter

About this species

A strikingly patterned, stocky salamander of Virginia's forests, the marbled salamander is unique among Virginia's mole salamanders in that it breeds in fall rather than spring. Females guard egg clutches in dry depressions until autumn rains fill the vernal pool. The bold white or silver crossbands on a black body make it one of Virginia's most distinctive salamanders.

Often confused with

Did you know

"Female marbled salamanders are unusually devoted parents for amphibians — they coil around their egg clutch for weeks in fall, protecting it from predators and keeping it moist until rains flood the nest site."

Sightings & citizen science

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