Identification- 2.5-5" (6.3-12.7 cm) Adults are olive skinned aquatic salamanders with 6-10 pairs of black edged red spots. The venter is yellow with many small black spots. Males in the breeding season have a high tail fin, an enlarged vent, and black growths on the hind legs. Females lack these characters and tend to be lighter in color than males. The terrestrial stage or red eft is patterned similar to the adults, but have dry grainy skin. The ground color is a distinctive bright orange. Efts nearing maturity change from orange to dark green to black.
    Similar Species- Red and Mud salamanders may be confused with red efts, but have slimy skin and conspicuous costal grooves.

Range- Red efts are common in appropriate habitat throughout the range covered.
 

Habitat- Terrestrial forms frequent damp woods neighboring a permanent water source. They are often found under cover or wandering about on rainy days. Aquatic forms frequent still waters with an abundance of vegetation. They are found in ponds, lakes, marshes, and still backwaters of streams.

Reproduction- This salamander has the most complex life cycle of any northeastern salamander. There are four life stages (egg, larvae, eft, adult), as compared to three in other species (egg larvae, adult.) Mating occurs in the autumn or spring, but eggs are not layed exclusively in spring. Courtship begins with the male approaching a female and making a series of lateral movements. If the female is receptive she will nudge the male's tail. Following this he drops a spermatophore which she picks up with her cloacal lips. If this variety of courtship is not successful the male initiates amplexus and, with his tail, fans pheromones toward the female. He then drops a spermatophore which the female will normally accept. The eggs are attached individually to the stems of submerged plants. Clutch size is unknown. One to two months later the larvae emerge and two to three months after that they transform to the eft stage. The eft stage lasts one to three years before the eft migrates back to the water to complete the life cycle.

General Characteristics-
This salamander is one of the most common of all our salamanders. The skin of the Red-spotted Newt is toxic to many predators. Birds and mammals avoid Red Efts and fish, an important aquatic predator, avoid adults. Red Efts, not fearing predation, are quite bold and are often seen wandering the forest floor during the day. Red Efts are involved in a mimicry complex with the erythristic form of the Red-backed Salamander. These all-red salamanders fool predators into avoiding them because they superficially resemble the toxic Red Eft. Something similar occurs with the Red Salamander, which is toxic in its own right.  Adult newts are active year long, surviving under the ice in the winter. They feed on insects, earthworms, aquatic invertebrates, and fish eggs.