180 BATRACHIA : URODELA. — XXVI. 
base, not finned. Costal grooves 14. L.6. Aquatic. Vt. to Ala. 
in the mountains. “The only one of our Eastern Salamanders 
which attempts self-defence. It snaps fiercely but harmlessly and 
throws its body into contortions.” (Cope.) (avpddvpa, purple.) 
259. SPELERPES Rafinesque. (oméos, cave; épzerdy, reptile.) 
a. Costal grooves 13 or 14; palatine teeth not confluent with sphenoid patches. 
6. Tail about as'long as rest of body. 
506. S. bilineatus (Green). Yellow, with a dark line along each 
side of the back ; belly unspotted ; tail not keeled anteriorly ; costal 
grooves 14, rather faint. L.3. Maine to Wis. and 8. 
bb. Tail 1} to 2 times as long as rest of body. 
507. S. guttolineatus (Holbrook). Yellow, with black band on 
back and one on side; tail black, barred with yellow; belly mot- 
tled ; tail keeled ; costal grooves 13. Ohio to N. C. and S. 
508. S. longicauda (Green). CAVE SALAMANDER. Orange 
yellow; back and sides with many irregular small black spots; a 
median dorsal series; belly spotless; tail keeled, spotted or barred 
with black. L.5. Maine to Minn. and S., abundant in caves in 
Ky. and Ind. (Lat., longus ; cauda, tail.) 
aa. Costal grooves 15 to 17; tail rounded at base, not keeled; palatine and 
sphenoid teeth continuous. 
509. S.ruber (Daudin). Vermilion red, with numerous, crowded 
faint dark spots; head wide; tail shorter than body. L.6. Maine 
to Neb. and 8S. Var. montanus Cope (Penn. to 8. C.) has tail as 
long as body, and lacks the dark bar across eye usually present in 
var. ruber. 
Famity CIlIl. DESMOGNATHIDA. 
Vertebre opisthocelian ; carpus and tarsus cartilaginous; pala- 
tine teeth few, sometimes: wanting; no crests or other dermal ap- 
pendages developed at the, breeding season. Genus 1; species 3 ; 
all of the Eastern U. S., the species aquatic, seldom leaving the 
water. In external characters, this family is scarcely distinguish- 
able from the preceding, but the skeletal distinctions are very 
strongly marked. 
260. DESMOGNATHUS Baird. (deopds, band; yrdbos, jaw.) 
a. Costal grooves 13 or 14. 
6. Tail sub-terete. 
510. D. ochropheza Cope. Brownish yellow with a brown shade 
on each side ;a yellowish dorsal band ; back with a few spots ; belly 
unspotted; g with lower jaw toothless behind. L. 3. Scarcely 
aquatic. N.Y. to Ga. in mts. (dxpds, yellowish ; datos, dusky.) 
6b. Tail compressed and keeled. 
