These salamanders have smooth, shiny skin, and easily visible yet reduced paratoid glands compared to other species in the Salamandra genus.

Densely growing ferns (Pteridium aquilinum), tree heath, and other shrubby vegetation might diminish the fire salamander population, also as evergreen sclerophyllic woods, such as holly oak forests because of their minor precipitation sum.

The German herpetologist Robert Mertens found a pregnant Corsican fire salamander in the Restonica Valley that gave birth to four offspring without gills and already with the characteristic black and yellow of the adults.

At the same time, he found normally developing aquatic larvae with their three characteristic feathery external gills on each side of their heads and camouflage blending into the pond's substrate.

Introducing invasive fish species, such as rainbow trout in the larval habitats diminishes the reproduction of the island's fire salamanders significantly.