 Range in California: Red
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Electronic Field Guide to the
Reptiles and Amphibians of
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Adult, Siskiyou County |
Adult, Siskiyou County |
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| Sub-adult, Siskiyou County |
Adult, Siskiyou County |
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Adult, Siskiyou County |
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Juvenile, Siskiyou County |
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Habitat |
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Habitat, Siskiyou County
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Habitat, Siskiyou County |
Habitat, Siskiyou County |
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| Habitat, Siskiyou County |
Habitat, 2,600 ft., Siskiyou County |
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| Short Video |
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A rock is overturned exposing a Siskiyou Mountains Salamander. |
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Description |
Size |
| Adults measure 2 3/4 - 3 inches long (7 cm) from snout to vent, and 4 1/3 - 5 1/2 inches (14 cm) in total length. |
| Appearance |
| A slender, elongated salamander with short limbs, nasolabial grooves, and usually 17 costal grooves with 4-5 intercostal folds between adpressed limbs. Toes are short and slightly webbed. Color is light brown to purplish brown above, with profuse whitish or yellow speckling overall, more concentrated on the limbs and sides. May show a faint light brown stripe or none at all. The belly is grayish purple with light flecks. Juveniles are black with an olive-tan stripe and a dark venter. |
| Behavior and Natural History |
A member of family Plethodontidae, the Plethodontid or Lungless Salamanders.
Lungless Salamanders breathe through their skin which requires them to live in damp environments on land and to move about on the ground only during times of high humidity. (In California, they do not inhabit streams or bodies of water, but they are capable of surviving for some time if they fall into water.)
Lungless salamanders are distinguished by their naso-labial grooves, which are vertical slits between the nostrils and upper lip that are lined with glands used in chemoreception. All California Lungless Salamanders lay eggs in moist places on land. The young hatch from the egg directly into a tiny terrestrial salamander with the same body form as an adult. (They do not hatch in the water and begin their lives as tiny swimming larvae breathing through gills, as occurs with other types of salamanders.)Terrestrial, active on rainy or wet nights. Activity period is probably limited to late winter and early spring, and possibly early fall, due to the summer dryness and winter freezing of the habitat. Salamanders go deep underground during dry summer conditions, but they may emerge to feed on the surface on wet nights.
Recapture studies have shown that the sibling species P. elongatus moves very little in a single year - staying within a 7.5 square meter area, and it is thought that P. stormi has similar sedentary behavior.
A sit-and-wait predator, quickly jumping from a hiding spot to grab prey. |
| Diet |
| Eats small invertebrates, including spiders, mites, beetles, and moths. |
| Reproduction and Young |
| Little is known about breeding or reproduction in this species. Reproduction is terrestrial. As it does with P. elongtus, mating probably occurs in the spring, with females laying eggs in rocky underground nests in spring or early summer and brooding them until fall. Young hatch fully formed and probably remain underground until the following spring. |
| Range |
| Found in a very small area of the Siskiyou Mountains in extreme northern Siskiyou county and in the Applegate River drainage in southern Oregon. |
| Habitat |
| The largest populations are found in heavily wooded north-facing slopes with rocky talus. Strongly associated with rocky forested areas, especially talus in older forests. Mostly found in talus slopes or rock crevices, but may move into the forest during very wet periods and reside beneath woody debris.
At elevations of 1,600 - 3,500 ft. (488 -1078 m). |
| Taxonomic Notes |
P. stormi was first described in 1965.
Some herpetologists name this salamander P. e. stormi, a subspecies of P. elongatus, making the coastal form, the Del Norte Salamander, P. e. elongatus.
P. stormi was most likely separated from P. elongatus when glaciars separated inland populations from the coastal populations.
P. stormi may hybridize with P. elongatus on the southern side of the Siskiyou Mountains.
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| Conservation Status |
| Designated as a threatened species by the state due to limited range and fragile forest talus microhabitat which is easily destroyed. |
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Taxonomy |
| Family |
Plethodontidae |
Lungless Salamanders |
| Genus |
Plethodon |
Woodland Salamanders |
Species
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stormi |
Siskiyou Mountains Salamander |
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Original Description |
Highton and Brame, 1965 - Pilot Register of Zoology, Card No. 20, 1-2
from Original Description Citations for the Reptiles and Amphibians of North America © Ellin Beltz
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Meaning of the Scientific Name |
Plethodon: Greek - fullness or full of & teeth , refers to the number of vomerine & pre-vomerine teeth.
stormi: honors Robert M. Storm
from Scientific and Common Names of the Reptiles and Amphibians of North America - Explained © Ellin Beltz
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Alternate Names |
Plethodon elongatus stormi
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Similar Neighboring Salamanders |
Plethodon elongatus - Del Norte Salamander
Plethodon dunni - Dunn's Salamander
Plethodon asupak - Scott Bar Salamander
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More Information and References |
Natureserve Explorer
California Dept. of Fish and Game
AmphibiaWeb
Thelander, Carl G., editor in chief. Life on the Edge - A Guide to California's Endangered Natural Resources - Wildlife. Berkeley: Bio Systems Books, 1994.
Stebbins, Robert C., and McGinnis, Samuel M. Field Guide to Amphibians and Reptiles of California: Revised Edition (California Natural History Guides) University of California Press, 2012.
Stebbins, Robert C. California Amphibians and Reptiles. The University of California Press, 1972.
Stebbins, Robert C. A Field Guide to Western Reptiles and Amphibians. 3rd Edition. Houghton Mifflin Company, 2003.
Behler, John L., and F. Wayne King. The Audubon Society Field Guide to North American Reptiles and Amphibians. Alfred A. Knopf, 1992.
Powell, Robert., Joseph T. Collins, and Errol D. Hooper Jr. A Key to Amphibians and Reptiles of the Continental United States and Canada. The University Press of Kansas, 1998.
Bartlett, R. D. & Patricia P. Bartlett. Guide and Reference to the Amphibians of Western North America (North of Mexico) and Hawaii. University Press of Florida, 2009.
Bishop, Sherman C. Handbook of Salamanders. Cornell University Press, 1943.
Lannoo, Michael (Editor). Amphibian Declines: The Conservation Status of United States Species. University of California Press, June 2005.
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 by the California Department of Fish and Wildlife.
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Organization
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Status Listing
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| U.S. Endangered Species Act (ESA) |
None |
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| California Endangered Species Act (CESA) |
ST |
Threatened |
| California Department of Fish and Wildlife |
None |
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| Bureau of Land Management |
None |
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| USDA Forest Service |
USFS:S |
Sensitive |
| Natureserve Global Conservation Status Ranks |
G2G3 S1S2 |
Imperiled |
World Conservation Union - IUCN Red List
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IUCN:EN |
Endangered |
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