iPhone App
Electronic Field Guide to the
Reptiles and Amphibians of
Southern California
Available Now at the
iTunes App Store. |
|
 |
 |
 |
| |
Adult male, Del Norte County |
|
 |
 |
 |
| |
Adult male, Del Norte County |
|
 |
 |
 |
|
Adult female, Del Norte County |
|
 |
 |
 |
| |
Adult female, Del Norte County |
|
 |
 |
 |
| Adult male, Del Norte County, south of Crescent city from a location far from permanent water. © Alan Barron |
Dark adult male, Del Norte County, north of Smith River © Alan Barron |
 |
 |
 |
Adult, Del Norte County |
Adult female, Humboldt County |
Adult, Mendocino County,
© Mike Spencer |
 |
 |
 |
| Small larva underwater |
Underside of larvae, Del Norte County, north of Smith River © Alan Barron |
 |
 |
 |
Tiny hatchling underwater (note small gills) Del Norte County, north of Smith River © Alan Barron |
Larva out of water, Del Norte County, north of Smith River
© Alan Barron |
Large larvae, Del Norte County, north of Smith River © Alan Barron |
Habitat |
|
|
|
Habitat, Humboldt County |
Habitat, Humboldt County |
Habitat close-up, Del Norte County
|
 |
 |
 |
Habitat, Mendocino County
|
Habitat, Del Norte County |
Habitat, Del Norte County |
| Short Video |
| |
 |
|
| |
Southern Torrent Salamanders next to a creek, showing they are capable of wild bursts of speed.
|
|
|
Description |
Size |
| Adults are 1.5 - 2.4 inches long (4.0-6.2 cm) from snout to vent. |
| Appearance |
| A medium-sized salamander with a slim body, a short tail, and a small head with large protuberant eyes. A Olive to brown dorsally with dark and light speckling. Ventral surface yellowish, similarly speckled. Eyes are large and dark, flecked with metallic gold. Males have distinct squareish cloacal lobes. Adults with reduced lungs. |
| Behavior and Natural History |
Primarily aquatic, but also capable of terrestrial activity. Adults are active even at very low temperatures, as cold as 41 - 50 degrees F (5 -10 degrees C), and are extremely moisture dependant. With highly reduced lungs, this species relies on its skin surfaces to take in oxygen, making it very intolerant of dessication. When temperatures rise and stream flows decrease significantly, and when stream flows increase to levels too high for them to tolerate, salamanders burrow into stream bed substrates.
Aquatic larvae live in clear shallow water and still, mucky water in creeks, often with accumulated leaves.
|
| Diet |
| Diet consists primarily of aquatic and semi-aquatic invertebrates, including amphipods, and springtails. |
| Reproduction and Young |
Reproduction is aquatic. Little is known about the seasonal reproductive habits of Torrent salamanders (Rhyacotriton).
Single, loosely laid, pigmentless eggs are laid in water and abandoned. Clutches of 8 and 11 eggs have been found beneath rocks in streams with gravel substrates. Egg development is slow - eggs of Columbia Torrent Salamanders, R. kezeri, have reported hatching after about 210 days in the laboratory. Larvae develop in the water, with short stubby gills and a tail fin that does not extend onto the back. Larvae may take 3-5 years to metamorphose, at which time they are about 1 - 1.5 inches long (3.1-4.0 cm). |
| Range |
In California, this species occurs throughout humid coastal drainages from near Pt. Arena in southern Mendocino Co., to the Oregon border in the coniferous belt, and north into Oregon along the coast and inland into the Cascade Mountains.
An isolated population occurs east of the established range in the upper McCloud River drainage in Siskiyou County. |
| Habitat |
Found in shallow, cold, clear, well-shaded streams, waterfalls and seepages, particularly those running through talus and under rocks all year, in mature to old-growth forests Occasionally found in riparian vegation adjacent to water, but usually found in contact with water. R. variegatus is found primarily in waters on north-facing slopes in the southern part of their range where forests are warmer and drier.
From sea level to from 4,500 ft. - 5,000 ft. (1,390 - 1,500 m). |
| Taxonomic Notes |
Previously recognized as a subspecies of Rhyacotriton olympicus. Good et al. (1987) found considerable genetic variation within the complex, which eventually led to the elevation of R. variegatus to full species status.
Highton (2000) proposed that R. variegatus is composed of four cryptic species. |
| Conservation Issues (Conservation Status) |
Severely impacted by clear-cutting of old-growth forests near drainages. According to Stebbins (2003), aproximately 50 - 90 percent of suitable habitat in California has been altered or eliminated through overharvesting of old-growth forests and destruction of small seeps and springs.
Protected from collection as a Department of Fish and Wildlife California Species of Special Concern in 2013. |
|
|
Taxonomy |
| Family |
Rhyacotritonidae |
Torrent or Seep Salamanders |
| Genus |
Rhyacotriton |
Torrent Salamanders |
Species
|
variegatus |
Southern Torrent Salamander |
|
Original Description |
Stebbins and Lowe, 1951 - Univ. California Publ. Zool. Vol. 50, No. 4, p. 471
from Original Description Citations for the Reptiles and Amphibians of North America © Ellin Beltz
|
|
Meaning of the Scientific Name |
Rhyacotriton: Greek - stream & Triton - Greek sea god.
variegatus: Latin - variegated, referring to the dorsal color/pattern.
from Scientific and Common Names of the Reptiles and Amphibians of North America - Explained © Ellin Beltz
|
|
Alternate Names |
Formerly - Rhyacotriton olympicus variegatus - Southern Olympic Salamander
|
|
Related Western Salamanders |
Rhyacotriton kezeri - Columbia Torrent Salamander
Rhyacotriton cascadae - Cascades Torrent Salamander
Rhyacotriton olympicus - Olympic Torrent Salamander
|
|
More Information and References |
Natureserve Explorer
California Dept. of Fish and Game
AmphibiaWeb
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.
|
|
|
|
The following status listings come from the Special Animals List which is published by the California Department of Fish and Wildlife.
|
Organization
|
Status Listing
|
| U.S. Endangered Species Act (ESA) |
None |
|
| California Endangered Species Act (CESA) |
None |
|
| California Department of Fish and Wildlife |
DFG:SSC |
California Species of Special Concern |
| Bureau of Land Management |
None |
|
| USDA Forest Service |
USFS:S |
Sensitive |
| Natureserve Global Conservation Status Ranks |
G3G4 S2S3 |
Vulnerable |
World Conservation Union - IUCN Red List
|
IUCN:LC |
Least Concern |
|
|
|
Range in California: Red 
