If you encounter a relatively large (6 or 7 inch long) shiny black salamander with silvery white speckling (patterns vary), you may be looking at the slimy salamander. Its belly and throat are normally a plain slate color.

This species likes moist wooded areas. It is named 'slimy' because its skin secretes a sticky 'slime'.

It ranges down the Eastern U.S. from New Hampshire to Florida.