The European Fire Salamander, Salamandra salamandra, is widely distributed across Europe, North Africa and cooler parts of the Middle East, and has a large number of subspecies. This page is particularly indebted to the article by Xavier Rivera in Reptilia No 1. Jan-Feb 1998. If you would like to know more, and in particular to avail yourself of the colour schematics, maps and other data, I strongly recommend this article.
| Scientific Name | Distribution | Notes |
| Salamandra salamandra salamandra | Balkans, Carpathians, eastern Germany, NE Italy, SE France | Nominate subspecies. Click here for a photograph. |
| S. s. albanicus | Validity of these subspecies is being questioned: normally now regarded as nominate subspecies. | |
| S. a. carpathica | ||
| S. s. almanzoris | Gredos | Interesting subspecies that lives only among the glaciers of Gredos in Spain. The tail is somewhat laterally flattened, more so in the females. The yellow markings are somewhat sparse and some individuals are almost completely black. Click here for a photograph. |
| S. s. bejarae | Central Iberia and Toledo mountains | Absent from highest parts of Sierra de Gredos. Click here for a picture. |
| S. s. bernardezi | Asturias, N. & E. Galicia | There are several colour phases of this subspecies, which in some cases at least gives birth to fully metamorphosed young. The yellow on some specimens is so heavy that it becomes the predominant colour, reducing the black to a broad dorsal and lateral stripe. Others conversely have completely black bodies and bronze heads. For pictures of both examples click here. The Japanese site www.rieo.net also has a good selection of S. s. bernadezi pictures. |
| S. s. beschkovi | Pirim Mountains in Bulgaria | |
| S. s. crespoi | S. Portugal, Algarve | Markings are much finer on this subspecies. |
| S. s. fastuosa | Pyrenees, N. Spain | The yellow markings on S. s. fatuosa take the form of two broad dorsal longitudinal stripes running from the top of the eyes right to the end of the tail. There are also two lateroventral yellow stripes and a number of yellow bars or hoops on the limbs. Click here for a photograph. |
| S. s. gallaica | Portugal and Galicia, Leon mtns | Displaced in extreme south of Portugal by S. s. crespoi. There are several colour phases to this subspecies, some of which display wine-red markings, especially near the front of the body. Click here for a picture. See also www.rieo.net for some interesting photos. |
| S. s. gigliolii | Italy | |
| S. s. longirostris | Cadiz and Malaga, Spain | This subspecies can be distinguished by the rather triangular and pointed snout. Markings on at least some specimens consist of yellow patches separated very narrowly from one another. Click here and here for a picture. |
| S. s. morenica | Sierra Morena from Portugal to mountains of Cazorla and Segura | Markings are more rounded, tending to be spot-like or "zig-zag" and not elongated or joined. There are some wine-red markings among the more dominant yellow. Click here for a photograph. |
| S. s. terrestris | Western Germany, Belgium, Luxembourg, France | Fairly "standard" coloration, the yellow markings being elongated patches rather than joined up stripes. Click here for a picture. |
| S. s. werneri | Mount Pelion in N. Peloponnese | Validity recently upheld owing to apparent genetic differences (Rivera). |
See above for Reptilia article by Riviera, 1998.
The Japanese site http://www.rieo.net/amph/saramand/imori/sala/fire.htm has a good section on subspecies of Fire Salamander.
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