The Spectacled salamander ( Salamandrina tergiditata)
This creature who loves moist and shady places and spends most of its existence hidden under the earth, was described for the first time after being found at a crater of Vesuvius in 1788.
Its length does not exceed eleven cm (in the male, in this case slightly larger) of which more than half of its lengts exists is for the thin tail. The skin is grainy. The upper parts are ranging from a dark gray to a brown or almost black colour. The fingers and part of the limbs are of a bright red colour, and so is also the lower part of the tail.
The period of its reproduction here generally ranges from the beginning of April to May. Then the females lay fertilized eggs preferably in slow waters, muddy and full of branches and decaying leaves, where they can hide their eggs.
The salamander eats for example molluscs, worms, insects and larvae. It is a species exclusive for the area of Vallone Porto di Positano, and in some areas of Cilento. Its presence is limited to the Apennines and almost only the Tyrrhenian side, from Liguria to Campania.
The salamander is included in the red list of endangered amphibians.
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Notes
Gianni Menichetti “Il Porto, storia di un canyon selvaggio”, edizioni Comunicazione e Territorio, anno 2003
Gianni Menichetti "La Salamandrina", edizioni Comunicazione e Territori, anno 2009