So obviously the largest salamanders living today are the cryptobranchids, the hellbenders and members of the genus Andrias. However, these salamanders are extremely specialized for living in fast-flowing riparian habitats. In that case, what is the largest living species of salamander that is not specialized for living in riparian habitats? I assume it is a member of the Ambystomatidae, but I am not certain.
The largest (typically) non-aquatic salamandroid is probably Dicamptodon tenebrosus, a member of the Dicamptodontidae. The maximum-recorded total length of Ambystoma tigrinum is 36 cm but such monsters are really exceptional. As a general rule, neotenic paedomorphs get bigger than terrestrial adults of the same species.
It depends on what you mean by "largest." If you are going by length then Amphiuma tridactylum (three-toed amphiuma) is the longest. If you are going by mass, then it is likely Siren lacertina (greater siren). I don't have mass information on A. tridactylum, but I imagine that they are pretty close in mass to some of the larger sirens.
It varies geographically, but the masses of greater sirens regularly reach 900-1,250g in the populations that I have marked and sampled in Aiken and Barnwell counties SC. However, these are not populations reaching the meter mark that is supposed to be the upper end on their length. Instead, the longest one that I have marked have been males approaching 80cm. I think that there are larger greater sirens are in Florida, but I could be mistaken.
Agreed with Thomas that you must modulate your definition of largest as to whether you are talking length or mass. However, based on length the longest living non-cryptobranchid salamander is actually Amphiuma means, where the maximum length reported is 116 cm (see Jean Raffaelli's account on AmphibiaWeb website: http://amphibiaweb.org/cgi/amphib_query?where-genus=Amphiuma&where-species=means&account=raffaelli&gaa=) I have no reason to believe that this length value is incorrect because the maximum length for Amphiuma tridactylum is 106 cm, based on both Raffaelli and AmphibiaWeb accounts (see http://amphibiaweb.org/cgi/amphib_query?where-genus=Amphiuma&where-species=tridactylum&account=raffaelli&gaa=); and when I was in Florida, I personally measured individuals of A. means that were the 108-110 cm range. Further, the maximum length reported for Siren lacertina is 98 cm based on both the Raffaelli and AmphibiaWeb accounts. Lastly, it is not clear to me how much one should place on the absolutely maxima if you are talking about what species is typically larger. Certainly, they give you an indication of what is typically the larger species, but population level information is really what is needed for that. I have no checked the information based on mass, which is buried in primary literature, so whether these same patterns on size hold for mass, I cannot say.
My question was meant to be more in terms of I had forgotten that sirens and amphiumas were also obligately aquatic and also got pretty big. I guess a better way to phrase the question is "what is the largest salamander that is not obligately fully aquatic", which I think Farkas may have answered.
If not obligately fully aquatic, you are probably correct, Balázs Farkas had the answer with Dicamptodon tenebrosus, at a known 34 cm maximum size for a non-neotenic (transformed) animal (see Nussbaum et al. 1983. Amphibians of the PNW under the account of D. ensatus; this is before the species were partitioned, but the animals in question refers to D. tenebrosus based on Nussbaum. But... I qualified saying probably correct because some accounts of Ambystoma tigrinum give a non-specific over 30 cm as the maximum size, without either specifying specifics of the precise size or indicating that the maximum belongs to a neotene. Since neotenes often hold the size maximum over transformed animals for a number of Ambystomatids, the transformed individuals are probably smaller. However, you should note that that is not necessarily the case for the Dicamptodonidae, where neotenes do not get as larger as transformed individuals.
I would say Dicamptodon, Siren, or Amphiuma all rank in the largest non-Cryptobranchid salamanders.
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