Adult Cave Salamanders are 4-6 inches long. The animal is bright orange-yellow above and covered with scattered black spots. The belly is white or yellow.
Cave Salamanders inhabit the twilight zone of limestone caves, or near permanent cold springs in forested areas. They may also be found under leaves and forest debris near caves and springs. In Kansas, the Cave Salamander is restricted to suitable habitat within the Ozark Plateau region in Cherokee County.

Cave 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 documented as 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 Cave 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, R25E, then extending westerly and southerly along U.S. 66 to the Kansas-Oklahoma border at Sec. 14, T35S, R24E.