California Reptiles & Amphibians

Ambystoma californiense - California Tiger Salamander

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Historical Range in California: Red

Dot-locality Range Map

Adult, Alameda County

Adult, Solano County.
Specimen courtesy of Brad Schaeffer & Dylan Dietrich-Reed, UC Davis.

Adult, Alameda County

Adult, San Joaquin County

Adult, Alameda County

Adult, Santa Barbara County. Specimen courtesy of Brad Schaeffer & Dylan Dietrich-Reed, UC Davis.

Adult, Santa Barbara County.
Specimen courtesy of Brad Schaeffer & Dylan Dietrich-Reed, UC Davis.

Adult, Sonoma County © Edgar Ortega

Adult, Monterey County

Adult, Madera County
© David Tobler

Adult, Santa Cruz County

Adult, Alameda County

Monterey County adult hybrid of A. t. mavortium - Barred Tiger Salamander and A. californiense. Specimen courtesy of Brad Schaeffer & Dylan Dietrich-Reed, UC Davis.

Mature Larva in water. Specimen courtesy of Brad Schaeffer & Dylan Dietrich-Reed, UC Davis.

CA Tiger Salamander larva, on bottom, with CA Red-legged frog tadpole on top for comparison. Monterey County.

Habitat, Alameda County

Habitat, Santa Cruz County

Habitat, Sonoma County

Habitat, Merced County

Habitat, Alameda County

Historical habitat, Santa Barbara County

Description

Size

Adults are 3-5 inches (7.6 - 12.7 cm) long from snout-to-vent, 5.9 - 8.5 inches (15-22 cm) total length.

Appearance

Lustrous black with large yellow spots and bars, often not present along the middle of the back.
South coast individuals may have few spots and a cream band on the lower sides. The body is stout with a short rounded head, blunt snout, small protruberant eyes, no nasolabial grooves, and a tail flattened from side to side to facilitate swimming. Usually 12 prominent costal grooves. Transformed adults have lungs. Larvae are yellowish gray with broad caudal fins that extend well onto the back, broad flat heads, and bushy gills.

Behavior

Fossorial, spending most time underground in animal burrows, especially those of California ground squirrels and valley pocket gophers. Emerges with the fall rains sometimes in early November.

Diet

Adults probably feed mainly on a variety of invertebrates. Hatchlings feed on zooplankton and older larvae feed largely on tadpoles.

Reproduction

Most breeding occurs December through March. Adults engage in mass migration during a few rainy nights and leave the breeding ponds shortly after breeding. Males arrive at the breeding pond a week or two before the females. Usually breeds in fish-free ephemeral ponds that form during winter and may dry out in summer, but may also breed in slow streams and in some permanent waters. Females lay eggs and attach them singly or in small groups to underwater vegetation. Eggs hatch in two to four weeks. Larvae metamorphose during the summer and migrate from the ponds at night during dry weather.

Range

Endemic to California. Historic range was from Sonoma County near Santa Rosa, south along the coast, to Santa Barbara County near Lompoc and east into the Central Valley and Sierra Foothills from Sacramento County to Tulare County. Isolated populations in the Sacramento Valley at Gray Lodge National Wildlife Refuge and near Dunnigan. Range is now fragmented.

Habitat

Frequents grassland, oak savanna, and edges of mixed woodland and lower elevation coniferous forest.

Taxonomic Notes

Populations in Santa Barbara County may be a distinct species. (Stebbins 2003)

Formerly considered by some researchers to be a subspecies of Ambystoma tigrinum.

Conservation Status

A threatened species, estimated to have disappeared from more than 50 percent of its historic range. Many populations have been extirpated due to loss of or fragmenting of suitable habitat through urbanization and agriculture. Hybridization with non-native Tiger Salamanders also threatens the continuity of this species. As of August 2005, the California Tiger Salamander is protected by California law as a threatened species, but populations in Sonoma and Santa Barbara counties are protected as endangered species.

Taxonomy
Family	Ambystomatidae	Mole Salamanders
Genus	Ambystoma	Mole Salamanders
Species	californiense	California Tiger Salamander
Original description
Gray, 1853 - Proc. Zool. Soc. London, Vol. 21, p. 11, pl. from Original Description Citations for the Reptiles and Amphibians of North America © Ellin Beltz
Meaning of the Scientific Name
Ambystoma: anabystoma - to cram into the mouth. Possibly derived from Amblystoma: Greek - blunt mouth. californiense: belonging to the state of California. from Scientific and Common Names of the Reptiles and Amphibians of North America - Explained © Ellin Beltz
Alternate Names
Formerly known as Ambystoma tigrinum californiense - California Tiger Salamander
Related or Similar California Salamanders
Barred Tiger Salamander Blotched Tiger Salamander Arizona Tiger Salamander Southern Long-toed Salamander Santa Cruz Long-toed Salamander Large-Blotched Ensatina
More Information and References
Natureserve Explorer California Dept. of Fish and Game AmphibiaWeb Center for Biological Diversity Stebbins, Robert C. A Field Guide to Western Reptiles and Amphibians. 3rd Edition. Houghton Mifflin Company, 2003. Behler, John L., & F. Wayne King. The Audubon Society Field Guide to North American Reptiles and Amphibians. Alfred A. Knopf, 1992. Bishop, Sherman C. Handbook of Salamanders. Cornell University Press, 1943. Petranka, James W. Salamanders of the United States and Canada. Smithsonian Institution, 1998.

Conservation Status
The following status listings come from the Special Animals List which is published several times each year by the California Department of Fish and Game. These listings apply to the species as a whole. The Santa Barbara County population of California Tiger Salamanders is federally listed as Endangered. The Sonoma County population is a proposed candidate to be put on the federal Endangered species list.
Organization	Status Listing
U.S. Endangered Species Act (ESA)	FT	Threatened
California Endangered Species Act (CESA)	None
California Department of Fish and Game	DFG:SSC	California Species of Special Concern
Bureau of Land Management	None
USDA Forest Service	None
Natureserve Global Conservation Status Ranks	G2	Imperiled
World Conservation Union - IUCN Red List	IUCN:VU	Vulnerable