Description: The larvae of Pseudotriton montanus are slender and uniformly light in color, with brown pigmentation in small irregular blotches and flecks.

Adult mud salamanders are known for their reddish-brown color, brown eyes, stocky girth, and short tails. They have between 30 and 40 distinct round black spots on their backs by the time they reach adulthood. Younger mud salamanders are typically bright red, orangish-brown, or crimson, with unmarked stomachs and separated spots. As they age, the salamanders darken to a dark purplish-red or even brown. They also acquire more spots, including larger spots, and spotted stomachs. Body color also varies with locality. Coastal mud salamanders tend to be more dark and drab, whilst inland mud salamanders are brighter and have more contrast against the black polka dots that sporadically pattern their bodies.

Mud salamanders can reach lengths of 3 to 8 inches in adulthood, and are typically stocky. They have 16 to 17 coastal grooves found along the dorsal sides of their bodies.

Habitat: The mud salamander inhabits swamps in low elevations, bogs, seeps, springs, and streams that not only provide a muddy bottom, but also clean and clear water. The mud salamander, a burrowing species, seeks shelter in burrows beneath leaf litter, logs, stones, or bark. The mud salamander may also build tunnels in creek banks, as well. These amphibians spend most of their lives in close proximity to water, but also burrow into the soil of the surrounding area. Larvae are usually underground in muddy springs; they are often found in leaf litter, debris, and muck of muddy springs, seeps, and streams. After they lose their gills and become adults, they make burrows in muddy areas. They often use burrows of crayfish and will sit with their heads sticking out of these burrows waiting for prey to pass by. They come out of these burrows at night and forage in the surrounding area. Generally, mud salamanders do not wander as far from their main habitat as their close relatives, the red salamanders. Mud salamanders seem to favor small, muddy seeps and springs that dry up in the summer. Both larval and adult mud salamanders go deep underground during the hottest months of the summer, especially in the small springs and seeps that dry up. The gilled larvae go deep in the mud where the water is underground and the adults remain deep in burrows. During the hottest times of the year, they are usually only found at night or during rains foraging for a short time before they return to their burrows in the mud.

Range: This species occurs in the United States of America on the Coastal Plain and Piedmont of eastern Georgia, the Carolinas, and Virginia, and in the Coastal Plain only of Maryland and southern New Jersey; west of the Appalachians, in eastern Tennessee, Kentucky, western West Virginia, western Virginia, and southern Ohio; and isolated subpopulations in east-central Mississippi and south-central Pennsylvania. It is predominately a lowland species, and is absent from the higher elevations of the Appalachian Mountains.

Found in these States: AL | DE | FL | GA | KY | LA | MD | MS | NC | NJ | OH | PA | SC | TN | VA | WV

Diet: A mud salamander's diet varies with age. In the larval stage, the small creatures tend to feed on equal-sized or smaller, aquatic invertebrates. The salamander larvae are also said to consume other salamander larvae. As an adult, though, the salamander's diet increases in variety, but it still eats smaller prey. Though not much is known about an adult salamander's eating habits, it is known that they are likely to feed on earthworms, beetles, spiders, and even smaller kinds of salamanders. Mud salamanders also can eat invertebrates as small as mites. What the mud salamander tends to eat however, mainly lies in the habitat in which it lives.

Reproduction: Mud salamanders breed during the warmer months of the year. Egg deposition commonly occurs during autumn and winter. The females reproduce at most once per year (usually once per two years), while males may breed several times a year. It is thought that the irregular reproductive cycle of females is a facultative adaptation which prolongs life during variable mortality rates and can increase overall reproductive success. "When a mate is found, the male performs a tail undulation display. The female then straddles his tail, allowing glands on the male's tail to lubricate her. The male is then able to deposit his sperm into the female". Females reach reproductive maturity around four to five years old, while males reach reproductive maturity around two to two and a half years old. The males will reach sexual maturity their first year after metamorphosis, but will reach breeding condition after a few summers. The males will produce sperm annually and try to mate between July and November, and the females will begin to oviposit in the fall. "A female may stay with her eggs to aid the incubation process. Incubation typically lasts three or more months, with embryos hatching in the winter. Clutches range in size between 65 and 200 and increases as a function of body size.

Status: Listed as Least Concern in view of its wide distribution and presumed large and stable population.

Taxonomy: