Grotto Salamanders are 3-5 inches long and have a brownish purple to pinkish white body color. Adults are blind and are found only in cave interiors. Larvae of this species have functional eyes and live in streams or spring flows near cave openings.

 The only known Kansas populations of Grotto Salamanders are found in the Ozark Plateau region of Cherokee County.

Grotto Salamanders are protected by the Kansas Nongame and Endangered Species Conservation Act and administrative regulations applicable thereto. Any time an eligible project is proposed that will impact the species’ preferred habitats within its probable range, the project sponsor must contact the Ecological Services Section, Kansas Department of Wildlife, Parks and Tourism, 512 SE 25th Ave., Pratt, Kansas 67124-8174. Department personnel can then advise the project sponsor on permit requirements.

As defined by Kansas Administrative Regulations, critical habitats include those areas documentedas currently supporting self-sustaining population(s) of any threatened or endangered species of wildlife as well as those areas determined by the Kansas Department of Wildlife, Parks and Tourism to be essential for the conservation of any threatened or endangered species of wildlife.

 Currently, the following areas are designated critical for Grotto Salamanders:

 All caves and associated spring flows within that portion of Cherokee County lying south and east of a line beginning at the Kansas-Missouri border junction with U.S. Highway 66 at Sec. 13, T34S, T25E, then extending westerly and southerly along U.S. 66 to the Kansas- Oklahoma border at Sec. 14, T35S, R24E.