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Large-spotted adult, Mendocino County |
Large-spotted adult, Mendocino County |
Underside of large-spotted adult, Mendocino County |
Juvenile, Large-spotted form,
Mendocino County |
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Large-spotted adult, Mendocino County |
Large-spotted sub-adult,
Mendocino County |
Large-spotted adult from the inner Coast Range, Lake County
© John Stephenson |
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Three views of the same large-spotted juvenile from Mendocino County. |
Large-spotted sub-adult,
Mendocino County |
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Solid black adult, Mendocino County |
Lightly spotted adult and juvenile, coastal Mendocino County |
Juvenile, solid black form, Mendocino County |
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Adult, frosted form, Humboldt County |
Adult, frosted form, Humboldt County |
Adult and juvenile, frosted form, Humboldt County |
Sub-adult, frosted form, Humboldt County |
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Adult, frosted form, Humboldt County |
Juvenile, frosted form, Humboldt County |
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Small-spotted adult, Shasta County |
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Fine-spotted adult, Siskiyou County
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Redwoods habitat, Humboldt County
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Rock talus habitat, Siskiyou County |
Habitat, Mendocino County
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Streamside habitat, Humboldt county |
Habitat, forest clearing,
Mendocino county |
Creekside talus habitat,
Mendocino County
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Habitat, Shasta County |
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Description |
| Size |
| Adults measure 2 - 3 3/4 inches long (5.1 - 9.5 cm) from snout to vent, and up to 5.5 inches (14 cm) total length. |
| Appearance |
| A medium sized plethodontid salamander, which breathes through thin moist skin instead of lungs. Dorsal coloring can be solid black, black with fine white specks, black with large white spots, black with pale yellow spots, black frosted with green or gray, or black with many small white spots, depending on the locality. The venter is greyish black. There are 14-16 costal grooves and two nasolabial grooves. Young are black with a brassy or greenish coloration and yellow at the base of the limbs. Males have a broader head than females. |
| Behavior |
| Lives in moist places on land. Adults forage for small invertebrates on the ground at night during wet weather. May be active along streams all year at the southern part of its range, but most stay underground during dry periods. Adapted for climbing with long toes and rounded tail, but mostly terrestrial. |
| Diet |
| Diet probably consists of a variety of small invertebrates. |
| Reproduction |
| Females lay and brood eggs on moist places on land in summer, but there is no published information on the breeding season or courtship behavior. Young hatch fully formed. Breeding males have a well-developed mental gland. |
| Range |
| Endemic to California and a small range in extreme southwest Oregon. Occurs from Sonoma county north along the coast and coast ranges to southwest Oregon in Jackson and Josephine Counties, east to near Mt. Shasta. |
| Habitat |
Occurs in mixed deciduous woodland, lowland coniferous forests, coastal grasslands. Found under rocks near streams, in talus,
under damp logs, and other objects. Most common at low elevations, but found from near sea level to over 5,500 ft.
(1,700 meters.) |
| Taxonomic Notes |
| A. flavipunctatus occurs in two isolated regions. The southern population in the Santa Cruz region is recognized as the subspecies A. f. niger by some researchers, or A. niger by others. The group south of Mt. Shasta may also be isolated from populations to the west. |
| Conservation Issues (Conservation Status) |
| None |
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Taxonomy |
| Family |
Plehodontidae |
Lungless Salamanders |
| Genus |
Aneides |
Climbing Salamanders |
| Species |
flavipunctatus |
Black Salamander |
Subspecies
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flavipunctatus |
Speckled Black Salamander |
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Original Description |
Aneides flavipunctatus - (Strauch, 1870) - Mem. Acad. Sci. St. Petersburg, Ser. 7, Vol. 16, No. 4, p. 71
from Original Description Citations for the Reptiles and Amphibians of North America © Ellin Beltz
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Meaning of the Scientific Name |
Aneides: Greek - lacking form or shape.
flavipunctatus: Latin - yellow spotted - refers to conspicuous white or yellow spots on dark background.
from Scientific and Common Names of the Reptiles and Amphibians of North America - Explained © Ellin Beltz
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Alternate Names |
Aneides flavipunctatus - Black Salamander
Aneides flavipunctatus - Speckled Black Salamander
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Related or Similar California Salamanders |
Santa Cruz Black Salamander
Arboreal Salamander
Wandering Salamander
Clouded Salamander
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More Information and References |
Natureserve Explorer
California Dept. of Fish and Game
AmphibiaWeb
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.
Corkran, Charlotte & Chris Thoms. Amphibians of Oregon, Washington, and British Columbia. Lone Pine Publishing, 1996.
Jones, Lawrence L. C. , William P. Leonard, Deanna H. Olson, editors. Amphibians of the Pacific Northwest. Seattle Audubon Society, 2005.
Leonard et. al. Amphibians of Washington and Oregon. Seattle Audubon Society, 1993.
Nussbaum, R. A., E. D. Brodie Jr., and R. M. Storm. Amphibians and Reptiles of the Pacific Northwest. Moscow, Idaho: University Press of Idaho, 1983.
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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.
This salamander is not included on the Special Animals List, meaning there are no significant conservation concerns for it in California according to the California Department of Fish and Game.
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Organization
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Status Listing
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| U.S. Endangered Species Act (ESA) |
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| California Endangered Species Act (CESA) |
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| California Department of Fish and Game |
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| Bureau of Land Management |
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| USDA Forest Service |
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| Natureserve Global Conservation Status Ranks |
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World Conservation Union - IUCN Red List
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