Caucasian Salamander
Mertensiella caucasica
A harmless stream salamander with yellow spots. Georgia’s only true salamander.
Overview
What is Caucasian Salamander
The Caucasian salamander (Mertensiella caucasica) is a harmless yellow-spotted salamander found in Georgia only in the western Lesser Caucasus. It is the only true salamander on the Georgian checklist — not a newt. It lives along shaded mountain brooks in beech, conifer and mixed forest. Named Georgian sites include Bakhmaro, Borjomi Gorge, Tashiskari, Mtirala and Kintrishi. It is not dangerous to people. The 2026 Georgian checklist treats it as biologically confirmed.
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Gallery
Caucasian Salamander in photos
Photo: david_broek
Photo: Lasha Gogodze
Photo: სანდრო ხახვა
Photo: სანდრო ხახვა
Photo: სანდრო ხახვა
Photo: Sandro Khakhva
Photo: Nikita Tiunov
Identification
How to identify Caucasian Salamander
A slender dark salamander with yellow or orange spots and a long, rounded tail. That is how it differs from Georgia’s newts.
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The body is elongate and slender. The back is black, dark brown or brown-orange, with oval yellow spots on the back and sides, often in two irregular rows. The belly is brownish. There are 11–12 costal grooves on each side.
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The tail is usually longer than the body and head and round in cross-section — not flattened like a breeding newt’s swimming tail. It can drop and regenerate the tail. Total length is usually about 13–19 cm; the body is about 6–8 cm.
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The male has a horn-like spur on the upper side of the tail base. In the breeding season he also has rough pads on the forelegs. The female lacks the spur. The sexes are similar in size; in a Borjomi population males average slightly larger.
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Georgia’s newts (Caucasian smooth newt, banded newt, Karelin’s crested newt) have a laterally flattened tail when breeding; males grow a dorsal crest and are more often in ponds or lakes. The salamander lives on brook banks, has yellow spots, and a rounded tail.
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Around Mtirala and Batumi some individuals are paler, with reduced spots — the M. c. djanaschvilii form. In the field it is still this species.
Biology
Habitat, diet, behavior, and conservation
Habitat and range
Look for it beside a narrow, shaded mountain brook — usually no more than 1–1.5 m wide and about 20–30 cm deep in spring — not in a large river and not in an open pond. Banks have thick leaf litter, moss, stones and logs. Adults hide under stones, logs and roots; they also move 200–300 m into the forest. In Georgia the range is the western Lesser Caucasus: Adjara, Guria and the Borjomi–Meskheti area. Named sites include Bakhmaro (Bakhvistskali), Borjomi Gorge, Akhaldaba, Tashiskari, Mtirala and Kintrishi. The type locality is given as Zekari Pass. The range margin runs roughly Batumi– Kintrishi and Borjomi–Nedzura, then Abastumani–Goderdzi. It does not occur in eastern Georgia or on the Greater Caucasus. Elevation runs from the forest belt into the subalpine; sources put the upper limit at about 1,800–2,400 m. It avoids landscapes altered by people.
Diet
Adults hunt mainly on land: woodlice, spiders, beetles and other soil and bank invertebrates. Larvae eat stream invertebrates, including amphipods (Gammaridae) and insect larvae.
Behavior
It is mainly active at night and is seldom seen. By day it stays hidden. In Borjomi Gorge, at medium elevation, the first active adults appear in early May and the last in September; around Batumi and in the highlands this window may differ. Breeding is in late spring and summer. Mating occurs on land or in water. The female lays eggs in the stream; in a Borjomi population the mean clutch is about 17 eggs. Larvae remain in the brook and usually take two to four years to metamorphose. If you find one, leave it where it is and do not pick it up. The skin mucus can irritate eyes or mouth. Wash your hands after any contact.
Conservation
The IUCN Red List assesses it as Vulnerable. The 2009 account gives an area of occupancy under 2,000 km², a severely fragmented range, and continuing decline in habitat quality. In Georgia the main threats are logging, using brooks as timber tracks, and pressure from livestock. It is listed in Georgia’s Red Data Book. Protected sites include Borjomi–Kharagauli National Park and Kintrishi. Do not collect or move animals — the species is also taken for the pet trade.
Questions
Frequently asked questions
Short answers to the most important questions about Caucasian Salamander.
Yes. It is biologically confirmed in the 2026 checklist. In Georgia it occurs only in the western Lesser Caucasus — not throughout the country.
Along shaded mountain brooks in Adjara, Guria, Borjomi Gorge and the northern Meskheti slopes. Named sites include Bakhmaro, Tashiskari, Akhaldaba, Mtirala and Kintrishi. The map marks Adjara, Guria and Samtskhe — Javakheti. It is absent from eastern Georgia.
No. It has no venomous bite and is harmless to people. Skin mucus can irritate eyes or mouth. Do not pick it up; wash your hands after any contact.
The salamander has a dark body with yellow spots and a long, rounded tail. Breeding newts have a flattened tail and, in males, a dorsal crest; they are more often in ponds and lakes, not on a narrow brook bank.
Total length is usually about 13–19 cm. The body is about 6–8 cm; the tail is longer than the body.
Yes — endemic to the western Lesser Caucasus. Besides Georgia it occurs in north-eastern Turkey. Inside Georgia it is only in the western Lesser Caucasus.
Watch it and leave it where it is. Do not pick it up or move it from the stream. Wash your hands after any contact. It is not a medical risk to people.
Not in this atlas. The 2026 checklist does not accept M. djanashvilii as a separate species. The paler Mtirala form does not differ genetically from other populations of the nominal species. Borjomi–Meskheti holds a separate lineage (M. sp. 1); in the field the animal is identified the same way.
- Tarkhnishvili et al. 2026 — Annotated checklist of Georgia's amphibians and reptiles
- Tarkhnishvili & Gokhelashvili 1999 — The amphibians of the Caucasus
- Tarkhnishvili, Thorpe & Arntzen 2000 — Pre-Pleistocene refugia and differentiation between populations of the Caucasian salamander
- Tarkhnishvili — The ecology of the Caucasian salamander (Mertensiella caucasica) in a local population
- AmphibiaWeb — Mertensiella caucasica
- Kaya et al. 2009 — IUCN Red List account for Mertensiella caucasica
- IUCN Red List — Mertensiella caucasica
- Frost — Amphibian Species of the World (Mertensiella caucasica)
Species profiles are compiled from peer-reviewed literature and established biodiversity databases, and are reviewed as new taxonomic and conservation data become available.
