Description: The shovelnose salamander is a robust species, broad with a relatively short tail. It receives its name from the shape of its snout which is more square ended than is seen in other salamanders in its genus. The colour is a dusky brown, grey, or black with two longitudinal rows of paler small patches and many smaller pale speckles. The underside is usually grey.

Habitat: It is found in shallow, flowing water, rapids and riffles on gravel and rocky substrates, but is not found in silted streams.

Range: The shovelnose salamander is found in the Appalachian Mountains in the southeastern United States at 980 to 5,510 feet above sea level. It is (provisionally) thought to range from Virginia south through North Carolina. Populations in Tennessee are thought to belong to D. aureatus, although this is still debated.

Found in these States: NC | TN | VA | WV

Diet: Shovel-nosed salamanders consume primarily aquatic invertebrates but will occasionally consume smaller salamanders.

Reproduction: Breeding takes place in late spring and early summer. The female attaches eggs singly or in small clumps to the underside of a rock in moving water. The eggs hatch after about eleven weeks and the larvae hide among the gravel particles and feed on aquatic invertebrates. They undergo metamorphosis into adults at two to three years of age and mature at about five.

Status: Although the distribution of this species is relatively limited (its extent of occurrence (EOO) is 10,966 km2), threats are mostly localized and the species is presumed to have a large, relatively stable population. It is therefore listed as Least Concern.

Taxonomy: