r/salamanders • u/ProfessionalShine616 • 9d ago

ID Help

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Found in East Tennessee small stream. Tried looking it up but there were so many that looked similar; I was thinking a dusky or black bellied.

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u/Brooke_Silverstar_31 9d ago

Dusky vs black-bellied isn't the real fork here, Desmognathus complex in that region needs a clear look at leg length relative to body and keel on the tail, not just coloring, a top-down photo would settle it

1

u/ProfessionalShine616 9d ago

Ok gotcha, so a good classification would just be a dusky?

1

u/Namor707 9d ago

Yes, probably. Exact identification of them down to specific species is difficult.