54 



SALAMANDRA CIRRIGERA. 



'jaw of similar colour, and the lower lip and throat nearly white. The back and 

 tail above are pale cream-colour, with a tinge of reddish-brown, and speckled or 

 variegated with numerous small dusky points; a dusky interrupted lateral line 

 begins behind the eve on each side, runs along the flanks above the extremities, 

 and is finally lost near the tip of the tail; below this line the flanks are mottled 

 brown, with an irregular series of small white spots; the abdomen is yellowish- 

 white, with a slight purple tinge along the mesial line; the extremities are 

 coloured like the back above, and like the abdomen below, though more dusky. 



Dimensions. Length of head, 2\ lines; length of body to vent, 1 inch 5 lines; 

 length of tail, 1 inch 7 lines: total length, 3 inches 2£ lines. 



Habits. Not much is known of the habits of this Salamander; it, however, 

 lives on land, and probably never seeks the water but in the breeding season; 

 and yet the barbels at the snout would seem to indicate an aquatic animal. 



Geographical Distribution. Louisiana and Mississippi are as yet the only 

 States in which this Salamander has been observed. 



General Remarks. The general appearance of this animal is so much like 

 the Salamandra bilineata, that I was for a long time unwilling to receive it as 

 a distinct species, not regarding the cirri as an indisputable specific character; 

 for it is well known that many Salamanders put out "singular ornaments," or 

 have curious developments at certain periods of the year; yet Dr. Green believes 

 these cirri to be permanent in the male. 



The distinctive characters perhaps the most to be depended on, between this 

 animal and the Salamandra bilineata, should the barbels be wanting, which some- 

 times happens, is the shape of the tail: in the former it is compressed laterally 

 throughout its whole extent, and in the latter it is round; besides, one inhabits 

 the Atlantic states generally, while the other is confined, as far as is known, to the 

 extreme south. 



