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| Subspecies: | Unknown |
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| Est. World Population: | |
| CITES Status: | NOT LISTED |
| IUCN Status: | Near Threatened |
| U.S. ESA Status: | NOT LISTED |
| Body Length: | |
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| Jumping Ability: | (Horizontal) |
| Life Span: | in the Wild |
| Life Span: | in Captivity |
| Sexual Maturity: | (Females) |
| Sexual Maturity: | (Males) |
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It breeds in streams. Eggs are laid in shelters, and sometimes in moist areas outside water. Adults and larvae are strictly nocturnal. The life cycle is prolonged: larvae spend 1–3 years in the water before metamorphosis, and metamorphosed animals need 10 or even more years before reaching reproductive size (Tarkhnishvili and Kaya 2009).
The age range is five to eleven years in males, and four to eight years in females (28 males and 30 females) from Kürtün. The snout-vent length (SVL) of each individual was used as body size, with mean values recorded as 6.42 cm in males and 5.85 cm in females (Beşer et al. 2017). Estimated age at maturity was five years for males and four years for females [similar with the Kümbet subpopulation (Üzüm 2009)], while Reinhard et al. (2015) reported that minimum adult ages were found to be six to seven years for males and females from Zigana Pass in Trabzon, Türkiye. Tarkhnishvili and Gokhelashvili (1999) reported that after metamorphosis, at least nine years for females and 13 years for males pass before maturation for this species. Kürtün, Kümbet and Zigana subpopulations of this species are located closely in Türkiye. The altitude of Kürtün is similar with Zigana’s (2,213 m asl for Kürtün, 2,032 m asl for Zigana Pass), but age at maturity is the same as in Kümbet subpopulation (1,575 m asl). So, it can be concluded that elevational differences do not effect age at maturity for this species, and the differences could be from their own ecological and biological characteristics of habitats as mentioned by Üzüm (2009). The maximum age were recorded as eleven years for males and eight years for females (Beşer et al. 2017). The recorded maximum age by Üzüm (2009) was ten years for males and nine years for females. Reinhard et al. (2015) estimated the maximum age as 18 years for males and 16 years for females, while Tarkhnishvili and Gokhelashvili (1999) reported an adult individual could live as much as 26 years old.
Conservation Actions In-Place
In Georgia, the species occurs in Mtirala National Park, Borjomi-Kharagauli National Park (Borjomi Strict Nature Reserve and Nedzvi Valley), Machakhela National Park and Kintrish Reserve. Protected areas within the Turkish range include Şavşat-Balıklı and Maden, Camili-Efeler Strict Nature Reserve, Camili-Gorgit Strict Nature Reserve, Borçka-Karagöl, Çamburnu Natural Reserve, Hatila Valley National Park, Çamlıhemşin-Kaçkar, Kaçkar Mountains National Park, Uzungöl Lake, Uzungöl Specially Protected Area, Altındere Valley National Park, and Örümcek Forest Strict Nature Reserve. However, not all protected areas within its range have adequate protection regimes. The species is listed in the Red Data Books of the USSR and Georgia, and in the official Georgia’s Red List of protected species.
Conservation Needed
Actions need to be taken to improve site/ habitat protection and management practices. For instance, around Uzungöl Lake between Trabzon and Rize, Çamlıhemşin-Kaçkar and some other Turkish protected areas (PAs) are extensive tourist developments. Most PAs in Türkiye are very small and fragmented, and cover only small parts of the range. Many important known or anticipated locations, such as Goderdzi Pass in Georgia, Batumi Botanical Garden, or the coastal mountains east of Rize in Türkiye, remain unprotected (Tarkhnishvili and Kaya 2009). Critical areas for action in Georgia are: (1) Nedzvi Sanctuary, which has the only subpopulation on the eastern bank of the river Mtkvari, isolated from the rest of the range, (2) Abastumani, where only part of the mixed forests lies within the NP, and the rest of the valley suffers heavy destruction by logging.
Actions are required to manage and create legislation and enforcement laws and policies to prevent logging and deforestation that damage the habitat. For conservation of the species, strict regulation of human activities can and should be introduced throughout the entire predicted range of the species. Logging within at least 50 m of a streambed and pulling trees along the streambeds should be banned. Artificial transformation of stream banks during infrastructure development in the vicinity of rivers and streams should be conducted only after identification of salamander habitats, and in case such habitats are present, the construction works should be displaced or limited by a short fragment (less than 10 m) of the stream banks (Tarkhnishvili and Kaya 2009).
Although the salamander is a flagship species for the Western Lesser Caucasus, much needs to be done to popularize it as a representative of the local relict fauna. Public awareness activities and education should include information provision on the salamander at commonly visited locations, increased awareness on the importance of the species as a part of unique regional biodiversity and a publicity campaign (Tarkhnishvili and Kaya 2009).
Research Needed
Further research is required to understand the exact distribution area/breeding site, population size and trends, life history and ecology of this species to develop future conservation strategies in its natural habitats. An area-based management plan is needed to set out the research describing the current status, threats and intended methods for increasing subpopulation sizes. Management actions are also necessary to stop the decline of, and support the recovery of the species. In order to determine the relative stability of populations and habitat trends, long-term population and habitat monitoring is required. It is also important to draw a clear geographic boundary between the ranges of two genetically isolated groups (referred to as Mertensiella. sp. 1 and Mertensiella. sp. 2. in Tarkhnishvili and Kaya 2009), and develop separate action plans for each of these subpopulations.