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Amphibia    Caudata    Rhyacotritonidae  

Cascade Torrent Salamander
Rhyacotriton cascadae Good and Wake, 1992
RY-ah-koh-TRI-ton — kas-KAH-day

SSAR 9th Edition Comments:
 There are no current SSAR comments for this taxon.

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Open icons indicate questionable records, including those with coordinate uncertainty greater than 10,000 m (approximately 6 miles). Click a marker to view metadata.
Occurrences:; 942 Total; 461 Museum; 481 Other

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Province/State Distribution:
United States: Oregon Washington

Taxonomic Etymology:
Named for its occurrence in the Cascade Mountains.
Rhyacotriton — From Greek rhyax (ῥυάξ), meaning “torrent” or “stream,” and triton (Τρίτων), the name of a Greek sea god often used in salamander nomenclature. The name means “torrent triton,” referring to the species’ preference for cold, fast-flowing mountain streams.
cascadae — Latinized form of “Cascade,” referring to the Cascade Range of Oregon and Washington, where the species is found. The suffix -ae marks it as a feminine genitive singular: “of the Cascades.”

First instance(s) of published English names:
Mountain Salamander (Rhyacotriton olympicus: Schmidt, Karl P. 1953. A Check List of North American Amphibians and Reptiles. 6th Edition. University of Chicago Press, Chicago, Illinois. 280pp.);

Taxon Links:

  
Catalog of American Amphibians and Reptiles
  
Amphibian Species of the World
  
NatureServe
  
iNaturalist
  
GenBank
  
USGS - Nonindigenous Aquatic Species Database

Selected References:
1920 Dunn, Emmett R. Notes on two Pacific Coast Ambystomidae. Proceedings of the New England Zoological Club 7:55–59
1968 Anderson, James D. Rhyacotriton and R. olympicus.. Catalogue of American Amphibians and Reptiles (68):1-2
1992 Good, David A., and David B. Wake. Geographic variation and speciation in the torrent salamanders of the genus Rhyacotriton (Caudata: Rhyacotritonidae). University of California Publications in Zoology 126:1–91
2006 Wagner, R. Steven, Mark P. Miller, and Susan M. Haig. Phylogeography and genetic identification of newly-discovered populations of Torrent Salamanders (Rhyacotriton cascadae and R variegatus) in the central cascades (USA). Herpetologica 62(1):63-70
2026 Cousins, Christopher D., Deanna H. Olson, Lindsay S. Millward, Michael J. Adams, Christopher A. Pearl, Jennifer C. Rowe, and Tiffany S. Garcia. Genomics reveals extensive population structure and undescribed phylogenetic relationships in the Cascade Torrent Salamander (Rhyacotriton cascadae). Journal of Biogeography 53(2):e70167

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