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Great Balsams Mountain Dusky Salamander vs. Seal Salamander

Seal Salamanders sit in the same headwater streams and seeps of the Great Balsams; young Seals are small and easily taken for a mountain dusky. A: A wavy-edged brown, yellow or reddish stripe, or plain dark in the Great Balsams Mountain Dusky Salamander; a bold net of dark, worm-like lines on a lighter brown back in the Seal Salamander. B: Round all along, no keel, shorter than the body in the Great Balsams Mountain Dusky Salamander; a sharp keel on top, knife-like in the Seal Salamander. The Seal's belly is clean white, sharply set off from the sides; the Great Balsams Mountain Dusky's is greyer and mottled.

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Great Balsams Mountain Dusky Salamander

Desmognathus balsameus

Seal Salamander

Desmognathus monticola

Photographs via iNaturalist under Creative Commons licences; the photographers are credited on the sheet.

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