Plethodon hubrichti

The Peaks of Otter salamander (Plethodon hubrichti) is a species of salamanders in the family Plethodontidae, endemic to the Peaks of Otter area in the Blue Ridge Mountains of Virginia. The adult Peaks of Otter salamander is characterized by a dark-brown dorsum with heavy brassy flecking down its entire length. The dorsum and sides of P. hubrichti may also be lightly speckled with white, while the venter is not spotted and ranges from light to charcoal grey in color. Males have small mental glands immediately behind the chin. While the Peaks of Otter salamander is superficially similar to the Cheat Mountain salamander (P. nettingi), the two species are differentiated by a higher concentration of metallic flecking on the dorsum of P. hubrichti, and the presence of a usual 19 costal grooves compared to the variable 17-19 costal grooves of P. nettingi. Although Petranka stated that hatchlings have a distinct dorsal stripe consisting of reddish spots, this was never seen in over 100 neonates observed, which have a uniform dark-grey dorsum. Brassy flecks begin to appear when salamanders reach about 25 mm snout-to-vent length. In the early 1950s, the P. cinereus group of small Plethodon species was made up of only three species: the southern ravine salamander (P. richmondi), the Cheat Mountain salamander (P. nettingi), and the eastern red-backed salamander (P. cinereus). Numerous other members of the genus have since been described, including the Peaks of Otter salamander. The story of P. hubrichti's naming began in 1949 with a typewriter salesman, Leslie Hubricht, who also collected and studied land snails. Hubricht encountered salamanders in his pursuit of snails because of their similar habitats, and sent any unusual salamanders he found to museums for identification. Some salamanders he had collected in the Blue Ridge Mountains of Virginia were identified as P. nettingi by herpetologist Gordon Thurow. If true, this would have represented a significant range extension for P. nettingi, since this species had been known only from West Virginia. Richard Hoffman and Richard Highton also examined these specimens, and suspected they actually represented a new species or subspecies. Hoffman and Highton successfully located Hubricht’s collection site about 0.9 miles south of the Black Rock Hill Overlook on the Blue Ridge Parkway, and after collecting and examining 24 of their own specimens, confirmed their suspicions that this was a new species. The two prepared a manuscript describing the salamander, which they designated P. aureolus, and planned to submit the account for publication by December of 1956. However, P. aureolus was never to officially exist as the scientific name for the salamander discovered by Leslie Hubricht in the Blue Ridge Mountains. Shortly before Hoffman and Highton’s manuscript was submitted, Highton phoned Gordon Thurow, who was in the army at the time, and was stationed near where he lived. Richard invited Gordon and his wife over for dinner at their home. During the phone conversation, Richard told Gordon that he had found Leslie Hubricht’s site along the Blue Ridge Parkway and that Gordon had misidentified the specimens Hubricht collected as P. nettingi. Richard also told Gordon that the specimens were of a new species and that he and Richard Hoffman were in the process of describing it. When Gordon and his wife came over for dinner, Richard showed Gordon the new specimens Hoffman and he had collected. During the visit, Gordon never mentioned that right after he received the phone call from Richard Highton, he rushed to Hubricht’s collection site. He then swiftly submitted his own description of this new species, giving the Peaks of Otter salamander its official specific epithet of hubrichti. This less-than-honorable rush to be the first to name this new species, plus other similar events, caused Richard Hoffman, a budding Virginian herpetologist at the time, to look for another group of animals in the forests of Virginia that needed taxonomic work. He decided to work with millipedes. The Peaks of Otter salamander is endemic to a 19-km stretch along the Blue Ridge Parkway in the Peaks of Otter area of the Blue Ridge Mountains in Bedford, Botetourt, and Rockbridge Counties of west-central Virginia. P. hubrichti occupies forest floor habitats and is generally found at elevations above 845 m. The first observations of a P. hubrichti nest were made in spring and summer of 2005, at a study site near Onion Mountain in Bedford County A cluster of about 10, 5.5-mm-diameter eggs, attended by the brooding female, was found beneath a rock embedded in the soil, hanging from the soil chamber ceiling. After 42-48 days of development, motile embryos with visible eyes were observed in the eggs, and 16 days later, hatchlings were found at the nest site. In comparison to many other terrestrial plethodontids, the Peaks of Otter salamander has a uniquely small distribution, but it may be locally abundant within its range. The extremely limited range of the species and its narrow environmental requirements put P. hubrichti in a tenuous position - easily threatened by forest disruption. The Peaks of Otter salamander is not distributed evenly within its range, and normal movements of individuals are restricted to approximately 1 m; therefore, any habitat alteration could fragment the population and affect the species’ long-term survival. P. hubrichti is estimated to have a population density of 450 salamanders/100 m2, with a median individual home range of 0.6 m2, determined by mark/recapture studies.