Brook salamanders are a genus, Eurycea, of salamanders native to North America.
The genus Eurycea was first described by Constantine Samuel Rafinesque-Schmaltz in 1822, with a specimen of the spotted-tail salamander, Eurycea lucifuga, from Kentucky. The taxonomy of the genus is somewhat confusing, as many of the species within it are poorly studied and are found only in very restricted ranges, or deep within caverns. Several species have even been described several times by different researchers, and some are often considered to be morphologically different enough to warrant being placed into their own genera.
A recent taxonomic revision moved the Georgia blind salamander to this genus, which makes Haideotriton a synonym of Eurycea.[1]
Many sources also refer to several species of the genus as cave salamanders, due to their choice of habitat, or as blind salamanders, due to their reduced eyes, or the antiquated term for aquatic salamanders, Triton. Most species are from very isolated localities, so bear the name of the place the first specimen was found.
This genus is composed of these 33 species:
| Binomial name and author | Common name | |
|---|---|---|
| Eurycea aquatica | Brown-backed salamander | |
| Eurycea arenicola | Carolina Sandhills salamander | |
| Eurycea bislineata | Northern two-lined salamander | |
| Eurycea braggi | Southern grotto salamander | |
| Eurycea chamberlaini | Chamberlain's dwarf salamander | |
| Eurycea chisholmensis | Salado Springs salamander | |
| Eurycea cirrigera | Southern two-lined salamander | |
| Eurycea guttolineata | Three-lined salamander | |
| Eurycea hillisi | Hillis's dwarf salamander | |
| Eurycea junaluska | Junaluska salamander | |
| Eurycea latitans | Cascade Caverns salamander | |
| Eurycea longicauda | Long-tailed salamander | |
| Eurycea lucifuga | Spotted-tail salamander | |
| Eurycea melanopleura (Cope, 1894 "1893") | Dark-sided salamander | |
| Eurycea multiplicata | Many-ribbed salamander | |
| Eurycea nana | San Marcos salamander | |
| Eurycea naufragia | Georgetown salamander | |
| Eurycea neotenes | Texas salamander | |
| Eurycea nerea | Northern grotto salamander | |
| Eurycea paludicola | Western dwarf salamander | |
| Eurycea pterophila | Fern bank salamander | |
| Eurycea quadridigitata | Southeastern dwarf salamander | |
| Eurycea rathbuni | Texas blind salamander | |
| Eurycea robusta | Blanco blind salamander | |
| Eurycea sosorum | Barton Springs salamander | |
| Eurycea spelaea | Western grotto salamander | |
| Eurycea sphagnicola | Bog dwarf salamander | |
| Eurycea subfluvicola | Ouachita streambed salamander | |
| Eurycea tonkawae | Jollyville Plateau salamander | |
| Eurycea troglodytes | Valdina Farms salamander | |
| Eurycea tynerensis | Oklahoma salamander | |
| Eurycea wallacei | Georgia blind salamander | |
| Eurycea waterlooensis | Austin blind salamander | |
| Eurycea wilderae | Blue Ridge two-lined salamander | |
Eurycea eat a variety of small arthropods such as spiders, Armadillidiidae, and insects.[2] The food of larvae is at the same trophic level as the adults. E. cirrega, for example, eat isopods, chironomids, and copepods.[3]
Mating can occur from fall to spring.[4] Males use their premaxillary teeth to scratch the female during reproduction, most likely to release various pheromones.