Marshall University Marshall Digital Scholar Theses, Dissertations and Capstones 1-1-2009 The aN tural History of Cave-Associated Populations of Eurycea l. longicauda with Notes on Sympatric Amphibian Species Kevin Wayne Saunders [email protected] Follow this and additional works at: http://mds.marshall.edu/etd Part of the Aquaculture and Fisheries Commons, and the Behavior and Ethology Commons Recommended Citation Saunders, Kevin Wayne, "The aN tural History of Cave-Associated Populations of Eurycea l. longicauda with Notes on Sympatric Amphibian Species" (2009). Theses, Dissertations and Capstones. Paper 298. This Thesis is brought to you for free and open access by Marshall Digital Scholar. It has been accepted for inclusion in Theses, Dissertations and Capstones by an authorized administrator of Marshall Digital Scholar. For more information, please contact [email protected]. The Natural History of Cave-Associated Populations of Eurycea l. longicauda with Notes on Sympatric Amphibian Species Thesis submitted to The Graduate College of Marshall University In partial fulfillment of the Requirements for the degree of Master of Science Biological Sciences by Kevin Wayne Saunders Thomas K. Pauley, Committee Chair Dan Evans, Committee Member Tom Jones, Committee Member May, 2009 Abstract The Natural History of Cave-Associated Populations of Eurycea l. longicauda with Notes on Sympatric Amphibian Species KEVIN W. SAUNDERS. Dept of Biological Science, Marshall University, 1 John Marshall Drive, Huntington, WV, 25755 The purpose of this study was to collect data on the natural history of the Long-tailed Salamander (Eurycea l. longicauda) in eastern Kentucky and West Virginia. The objectives of this research included characterization of epigean and hypogean habitat for this species, recording distances moved by individuals in populations associated with caves, and collection of data on courtship, oviposition, and larval development. The primary study site was Carter Caves State Park in Olive Hill, Kentucky. This area was visited from October 2007 to December 2008. Salamanders were photographed for identification based on unique pattern aberrancies and distances were measured between the encounter points when individuals were recaptured. Some individuals were observed to move considerable distances in relatively short periods of time while others appeared to remain in small areas for much of the year, but the cause of these different movement patterns is unknown. Eggs were not located, but larvae in a state of delayed development were located in a Greenbrier County, West Virginia cave. Data on sympatric amphibian species in caves are also discussed. Acknowledgements I have to thank Dr. Pauley for all the help he has given me and for providing us all with an opportunity to continue research on natural history when so much of the surrounding scientific community has overlooked its importance in recent years. While I was initially so broadly interested in herpetology that I went through literally dozens of potential thesis ideas, I could not be happier that I finally arrived at the idea to study long-tailed salamanders and owe Tim Baldwin a great deal of gratitude for initially suggesting the idea to me and following up with encouragement from time to time. I appreciate Dr. Jones serving on my thesis committee and helping me to develop a better understanding of cave ecosystems. He was also gracious enough to allow me to borrow equipment on several occasions, without which some aspects of my research would have been impossible. I also appreciate Dr. Evans serving on my committee in spite of the fact that there are no vegetative communities associated with my study organisms in most cases and for greatly enhancing my understanding of taxonomy through his classes. I also owe thanks to Dr. Waldron for her encouragement and assistance in analyzing my data. I have to thank Coy Ainsley and the rest of the staff at Carter Caves State Park for being so helpful and accommodating while I conducted my research and for helping me to contact others who were instrumental in completing my research. I owe my parents a great deal of gratitude for encouraging me to stick with this project even when gas prices reached record highs and I was denied funding to cover my travel expenses. While this research came at a great personal cost, I can honestly say that it was worth it when I look back over the entire experience. I appreciate the rest of the herpetology lab for their friendship and help in the field as well as my other friends who were generous enough to assist me with my field work when no one else could. Reid Downer deserves special mention for making many repeated trips with me and for the lively salamander discussions along the way. Casey Bartkus also helped me with much field work and without him I would not have made some of my most exciting finds or even known about what are now some of my favorite caves. Eric Diefenbacher also helped with my field work and frequently offered helpful advice on my research while I was still in the early planning stages. Others I am indebted to for going caving with me include (in no particular order) Adam Sypolt, Chad Estep, Jonny Roberts, Jared Shumate, Scott “Jonesy” Jones, Jason Biddle, Marty Brown, Jake Lewis, Brian Bridgewater, and Zach Donathan. Jonesy deserves special mention for helping just about everyone in the field when he could. I was truly impressed with his commitment to assist others whenever possible. The lab needs more students with his work ethic. I must also thank Steve Silverberg for allowing us to visit Lost World Caverns and taking an interest in my research as well as the landowners who allowed us to access their privately owned caves in the surrounding area. I also appreciate Andy Longenecker contributing information on his previous thesis sites, some of which I hope to visit for years to come. I owe a great deal of gratitude to John MacGregor and Nate Nazdrowicz for sharing many of their observations concerning E. l. longicauda with me, especially concerning aspects of the species’ reproduction which I was not able to document myself. Finally, Adam Fannin deserves special thanks for introducing me to caving, for bringing Carter Caves to my attention as an ideal study site, for making more trips to the field with me than anyone else, and for his friendship and assistance in a variety of situations over the last year. I thank God that I have been able to complete this research and make such great friends along the way and I hope that I can continue to collect data on “speleomanders” for the rest of my life. iii Table of Contents Title Page……………………………………………………………………………………………………i Abstract………………………………….………………………………………………………………….ii Acknowledgements…………...…………………………….…………………….………….…………….iii Table of Contents…………………………….…………………………………………………………….iv List of Tables………………………………………………………………………………………………v List of Figures……………………………………………………………………………………………..vi Chapter 1: Species Description…………………………………………………………………………….1 Chapter 2: Overview…………………………………………………………………………………….....7 Chapter 3: Materials and Methods…………………………………………………………………………9 Chapter 4: Site Descriptions……………………………………………………………………………...11 Chapter 5: Habitat…………………………………………………………………………………...……21 Chapter 6: Diet……………………………………………………………………………………...…….25 Chapter 7: Movement and Phenology…………………………………………………………………….30 Chapter 8: Reproduction……………………………………………………………………………...…..46 Chapter 9: Sympatric Species…………………………………………………...………………………..59 Literature Cited……………………………………...…………………………………………………….71 iv List of Tables 1. Movement of individual E. l. longicauda at Cascade Cave Entrance…………………….……………36 2. Movement of individual E. l. longicauda at Cascade Cave Exit…………………………...............….38 3. Movement of individual E. l. longicauda at Underground Waterfall……………………….……...….39 4. Data collected on all E. l. longicauda photographed for the mark-recapture portion of this study...….41 v List of Figures 1. Prehensile tail of E. l. longicauda………………………….……………………………………………4 2. E. l. longicauda from Carter County, Kentucky……………………….………………………………..5 3. E. l. longicauda larva……………………………………………….…………………………………...6 4. Inside the Cascade Cave entrance…………………………….………………………………………..14 5. Reid Downer inside the Cascade Cave exit…………………………….…………………………...…15 6. Inside the Underground Waterfall entrance……………………………………….………………..….16 7. Reid Downer above the Back of Cascade entrance…………………………….………….…………..17 8. Rimstone pools in the rear of Rimstone Cave……………………………….………….……………...18 9. Entrance to Buckeye Creek Cave………………………………………….………….………………..19 10. Casey Bartkus near the entrance to Norman Cave……………………………..……………………..20 11. Surface habitat near Carter Caves welcome center where E. l. longicauda were found………….….24 12. E. l. longicauda consuming an earthworm……………………………………………….…………..29 13. Monthly counts of E. l. longicauda in Cascade Cave and the Underground Waterfall…………..…..40 14. E. l. longicauda larvae from Buckeye Creek Cave at different stages of development…………..….56 15. E. l. longicauda larva near transformation……………………………………………………...…….57 16. Growth rates of E. l. longicauda larvae…………………………………………………………...….58 17. Monthly counts of E. l. longicauda vs. P. kentucki…………………………………………………..65 18. Prehensile tail of Plethodon kentucki…………………………………………………………………66 19. E. lucifuga from Norman Cave…………………………………………………………………….…67 20. Pseudotriton r. ruber larva from Sandy Cave………………………………………………...………68 21. P. kentucki from Cascade Cave…………………………………………….…………………………69 22. R.