Ecology and reproductive biology of two species of the Desmognathus Fuscus complex (amphibia : plethodontidae) in the Southern Appalachians

Morphology, habitat selection, and natural history were compared in two species of Desmognathus from the Unicoi Mountains. Desmognathus santeetlah, a high elevation species restricted primarily to seepages, was smaller in overall size, had relatively shorter rear limbs and tail and a less distinct dorsal pattern than did the low elevation D. Fuscus. Habitats of the two species also differed in some respects, but most of this was due to differences in elevation. Oviposition occured primarily during July in D. Santeetlah and during August in D. Fuscus, with mean clutch sizes of 21.33 for the former and 22.89 for the latter. Hatching in the laboratory for both species occurred in 50 to 60 days. The larval period was estimated to be slightly less than one year in both species, and age at maturity between two and three years, with males maturing approximately a year earlier than females. Population densities averaged between 2.76/m² and 3.27/m²D. Santeetlah and 1.26/m² and 1.32/m² for D. Fuscus. Desmognathus santeetlah densities were inversely correlated with the densities of other selected species in its habitats; D. Fuscus showed no such correlation. Desmognathus fuscus also exhibited higher tail break frequencies than did D. Santeetlah. The differences observed between the two species may have arisen as a result of differential competition, predation, environmental predictability, or a combination of the three.