Fire salamander
Salamandra salamandra (Linnaeus, 1758)
The fire salamander (Salamandra salamandra) is a species in the family Salamandridae, order Caudata. It has been recorded in 46 countries, most often in France, Switzerland and Germany. Its IUCN Red List status is Vulnerable.
Quick facts about the fire salamander
- Weight
- Not recorded
- Length
- Not recorded
- Lifespan
- Not recorded
- Main food
- Not recorded
- Habitat
- Not recorded
- Young per litter or clutch
- Not recorded
- Conservation status
- Vulnerable (IUCN)src for Conservation status
- Recorded in
- 46 countriessrc for Recorded in
Photos of the fire salamander
Only freely licensed photos are shown. Each carries its creator and licence.
Where does the fire salamander live?
Countries with openly licensed sighting records on GBIF. This shows where the species has been recorded, including zoos and introduced populations. It is not a definitive range.
The fire salamander has been recorded in 46 countries, from 170,451 records.
- None on record
- 1–9
- 10–99
- 100–999
- 1,000+
The same figures as a list, most records first
- France77,444
- Switzerland55,135
- Germany12,977
- Belgium7,376
- Portugal5,275
- Austria3,464
- Spain3,415
- Ukraine2,309
- Italy1,113
- Luxembourg587
- Czechia212
- Greece184
- Israel154
- Hungary131
- Slovenia120
- Romania104
- Croatia74
- Slovakia71
- Poland69
- Bulgaria57
- Netherlands25
- Serbia22
- Liechtenstein20
- Albania17
- Iran14
- Türkiye14
- Bosnia & Herzegovina9
- North Macedonia8
- United Kingdom7
- Lebanon7
- Montenegro7
- Andorra6
- Kosovo4
- St. Barthélemy3
- Syria3
- Algeria2
- Japan2
- Morocco2
- Denmark1
- Estonia1
What is the fire salamander?
The fire salamander (Salamandra salamandra) is a common species of salamander found in Europe.
It is black with yellow spots or stripes to a varying degree; some specimens can be nearly completely black while on others the yellow is dominant. Shades of red and orange may sometimes appear, either replacing or mixing with the yellow according to subspecies. This bright coloration is highly conspicuous and acts to deter predators by honest signalling of its toxicity (aposematism). Fire salamanders can have a very long lifespan; one specimen lived for more than 50 years in Museum Koenig, a German natural history museum.
Despite its wide distribution and abundance, it is classified as Vulnerable on the IUCN Red List due to its susceptibility to infection by the introduced fungus Batrachochytrium salamandrivorans, which has caused severe declines in fire salamanders in parts of its range.
Wikipedia contributors, “Fire salamander”, Wikipedia (revision 1357521317), retrieved 2026-11-11. Shared under CC BY-SA 4.0; this block is kept separate from our own text.
Is the fire salamander endangered?
The fire salamander is listed as Vulnerable on the IUCN Red List: it faces a high risk of extinction in the wild.
- LCLeast Concern
- NTNear Threatened
- VUVulnerable
- ENEndangered
- CRCritically Endangered
- EWExtinct in the Wild
- EXExtinct
Category via Wikidata (CC0). Find the full assessment on the IUCN Red List. See all Vulnerable species.
How is the fire salamander classified?
- kingdomAnimalia
- phylumChordata
- classAmphibia
- orderCaudata
- familySalamandridae
- genusSalamandra
- SpeciesSalamandra salamandra (Linnaeus, 1758)
Synonyms Gecko salamandra, Lacerta salamandra, Salamandra almanzoris, Salamandra candida, Salamandra maculosa
Names in other languages (12)
- FeuersalamanderGerman
- Salamandra-de-fogoPortuguese
- vuursalamanderDutch
- eldsalamanderSwedish
- ファイアサラマンダーJapanese
- 火蠑螈Chinese
- سمندر ناريArabic
- огненная саламандраRussian
- Common fire salamanderEnglish
- Salamandra ComúnSpanish
- salamandre tachetéeFrench
- Feuer SalamanderGerman
GBIFWikidataWikipediaNCBI TaxonomyITISEncyclopedia of LifeiNaturalist
Relatives of the fire salamander
Other species in the same order Caudata.
Axolotl
Ambystoma mexicanum
CompareFire salamander vs Axolotl
Common questions
Answered only where our data holds the answer.
Where does the fire salamander live?
The fire salamander has openly licensed sighting records from 46 countries on GBIF. The most records come from France, Switzerland, Germany, Belgium and Portugal. These are recorded sightings, not a definitive range.
Is the fire salamander endangered?
The fire salamander is listed as Vulnerable on the IUCN Red List, meaning it faces a high risk of extinction in the wild.
What kind of animal is the fire salamander?
The fire salamander (Salamandra salamandra) belongs to the family Salamandridae in the order Caudata.
Sources and how to cite this page
Data as of 2026-11-11. How this page is put together.
- GBIF Backbone Taxonomy · CC BY 4.0 · live API 2026-11-11
GBIF Secretariat. GBIF Backbone Taxonomy. Checklist dataset https://doi.org/10.15468/39omei accessed via GBIF.org. - Wikidata · CC0 1.0 · live API 2026-11-11
Wikidata contributors. Wikidata, the free knowledge base. - GBIF occurrence aggregates (CC0 and CC BY records only) · CC BY 4.0 · live API 2026-11-11
GBIF.org occurrence search, country facet counts restricted to CC0 1.0 and CC BY 4.0 records. - Wikimedia Commons · Per file · live API 2026-11-11
Wikimedia Commons contributors. Licence and creator recorded per file. - English Wikipedia · CC BY-SA 4.0 · live API 2026-11-11
Wikipedia contributors. Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia.
Embed a card for this animal on your own site
Copy this code. The card shows the photo with its credit, key facts and a link back to this page.
CreatureData. (2026). Fire salamander (Salamandra salamandra). Retrieved from https://creaturedata.com/animals/fire-salamander
“Fire salamander (Salamandra salamandra).” CreatureData, 2026, https://creaturedata.com/animals/fire-salamander.
@misc{fire_salamander_2026,
title = {Fire salamander (Salamandra salamandra)},
author = {{CreatureData}},
year = {2026},
url = {https://creaturedata.com/animals/fire-salamander},
note = {Data as of 2026-11-11}
}