California Reptiles & Amphibians

Aneides lugubris - Arboreal Salamander

Click on a picture for a larger view

Range in California: Red

Dot-locality Range Map.

Adult, Contra Costa County

Juvenile, Santa Cruz County

Adult, Contra Costa County

Adult, Contra Costa County (missing the tip of its tail)

Adult male, Monterey County sand dunes

Adult, found on a building in downtown San Francisco, San Francisco County
© Jackson Shedd

Adult, Santa Cruz County

Adult active at night in situ, Marin County

Juvenile active at night in situ, Marin County

Adult emerging at night from a crevice

Adult, Alameda County

Adult, Mendocino County

Adult, Orange County
© Jason Jones

Juvenile, Santa Cruz County
© Brad Alexander

Adult, San Luis Obispo county,
© Andrew Harmer

Adult, San Luis Obispo County
© Henk Wallays

Adult, Sierra Nevada Mountains, Tuolumne County © Rick Staub

During the dry season, Arboreal Salamanders seek out cool moist areas underground or in trees to rest and stay hydrated until the rainy season begins again. Eric Boyer discovered this large group of estivating adult and juvenile Arboreal salamanders underneath some wood while remodeling a backyard in Santa Barbara County in the heat of June. © Eric Boyer

Be careful when handling this salamander! It has many sharp teeth and isn't afraid to use them.

Mike Spencer found it, Val Johnson took the pictures, and Shannon Hoss lost some blood when she picked up this toothy beast in Mendocino County. © Val Johnson

Toes adapted for climbing

Habitat

Typical oak woodland habitat, Contra Costa County

Habitat, Contra Costa County

Coastal sand dunes habitat, Monterey County

Rock habitat, Marin County

Arboreal salamanders inhabit this urban backyard in Oakland, Alameda County

Habitat at coastal marsh, San Mateo County

Arboreal salamanders inhabit barren, rocky Año Nuevo Island

Arboreal salamanders inhabit barren, rocky Southeast Farallon Island

A careful look underneath the fallen bark of this dead tree turned up one Arboreal Salamander, two Coast Range Newts, one Yellow-eyed Ensatina, and 12 California Slender Salamanders, illustrating how dead wood and bark on a forest floor is an important microhabitat for salamanders and other wildlife.

Short Video and Audio

Click the picture to see a video of an Arboreal Salamander at rest and in motion.

Listen to this sub-adult Marin County Arboreal Salamander squeak two times.
(There are two high-pitched, bird-like squeaks with some rustling background noise.) The salamander squeaked several times when the log under which it was resting was lifted.
Sound and photo © Jonathan Hakim

An Arboreal Salamander, found sitting out on a rock at night, chirps when I grasp it across the sides firmly with my thumb and one finger. The salamander was not squeezed so hard that the sound was just the sound of air being pushed out of its lungs. This species is capable of making a fairly loud sound, but this one was very quiet, so there is a lot of background noise from a flowing creek nearby.

Description

Size

Adults measure 2 1/4 - 4 inches long (5.7 - 10.1 cm) from snout to vent and up to 7 inches (18 cm) in total length. The largest species of Aneides.

Appearance

A medium sized plethodontid salamander. Color is brown above with small cream to yellow spots. The number of spots varies with location - Sierra Nevada populations have weak spotting, Gabilan Mountains and Farallon Islands populations have large conspicuous spots. The venter is creamy white. The undersides of the tail and feet are dull yellow. Males have large triangular heads. Toe tips are expanded and squarish. Tail is prehensile, often coiled. Usually 15 costal grooves. Two nasolabial grooves. Young are dark, clouded with gray or brassy color.

Behavior and Natural History

Breathes through thin moist skin instead of lungs. Lives in moist places on land. Active when soil moisture is high after the onset of fall rains, usually in November, to May. Nocturnal.
A sit-and-wait-predator, adults forage for small invertebrates and sometimes slender salamanders on the ground at night during wet weather. Strong jaws and sharp teeth are capable of producing a painful bite.
Adapted for climbing with long toes and rounded tail. Has been found up to 59 ft. (18 m) above the ground.
Both males and females are agressively territorial. Scarred individuals are often found, and captives kept together often bite each others' tails.
Relatively tolerant of dry conditions compared to many other salamander species.
Anti-predator behaviors include biting, a raised defensive posture, making a squeaking sound, fleeing rapidly, and jumping.

Sound

This salamander may squeak when it is picked up or disturbed. (See the recorded examples above.) According to Stebbins and Cohen, 1997, an Arboreal Salamander "...may squeak repeatedly when caught, retracting its eyes into their sockets each time a sound is produced, When the eyeballs are depressed, their undersides protrude into the mouth cavity, thereby compressing the air in the mouth and forcing it outward. It is this movement that appears somehow to cause the sounds produced."

Diet

Eats a variety of small invertebrates including millipedes, worms, snails, ants, termites, sowbugs, moths, and centipedes. Also known to eat slender salamanders (Batrachoseps.) Prey is captured by the tongue and brought into the mouth where it is crushed.

Reproduction and Young

Reproduction is terrestrial. Adults probably reach sexual maturity in their third year. Breeding males have a heart-shaped mental gland under their chin. Males put this gland on a female's back, stroking her back quickly with it during courtship while scratching her skin with his teeth to deliver the mental gland pheromones to the female.
In late spring and early summer, females lay from 5 - 24 eggs in moist places, most commonly in decaying cavities of live oak trees, sometimes high off the ground, and also under rocks and other surface objects and inside logs. Females usually remain with the eggs until they hatch. males have also been found with females at the egg deposition site. Large egg masses are sometimes laid with groups of salamanders.
Young develop completely in the egg and hatch fully formed in August and September. They may stay with the male and female for a time after hatching.

Range

Endemic to California and northern Baja California. Occurs from Humboldt county, south along the coast and coast ranges into Baja California del Norte, and in the foothills of the Sierra Nevada Mountains from El Dorado County to Madera County. Also found on South Farallon, Año Nuevo, and Catalina Islands off California, and on Los Coronados Island off Baja California del Norte.

Habitat

Lives in moist places on land, mostly in coastal oak woodlands, but also found in yellow pine and black oak forests in the Sierra Nevada and other dryer habitats, including coastal sand dunes. Also found on moist, mossy rock faces, under rocks and woody debris on land, inside stumps, and in urban yards and buildings. In Southern California, this salamander is also associated with sycamores along seasonal streams.
From sea level to 5,000 ft. (1,500 m).

Taxonomic Notes

The salamanders on South Farallon Island were recognized previously as the subspecies A. l. farallonensis - Farallon Salamander, because they are more heavily spotted than mainland salamanders (except for those found in the Gabilan Mountains of Monterey County.) They have since been found to be more similar genetically to the nearest mainland populations.

Arboreal Salamanders in the Sierra Nevada foothills are genetically distinct from coastal populations.

Conservation Issues (Conservation Status)

Because of its reliance on oak trees for nesting and aestivation, the continuing decline of live oaks and the alteration of oak woodlands may have a negative effect on this species.

Taxonomy
Family	Plethodontidae	Lungless Salamanders
Genus	Aneides	Climbing Salamanders
Species	lugubris	Arboreal Salamander
Original Description
Hallowell, 1849 - Proc. Acad. Nat. Sci. Philadelphia, Vol. 4, p. 126 from Original Description Citations for the Reptiles and Amphibians of North America © Ellin Beltz
Meaning of the Scientific Name
Aneides: Greek - lacking form or shape lugubris: Latin - gloomy, dark, possibly referring to dull coloration. from Scientific and Common Names of the Reptiles and Amphibians of North America - Explained © Ellin Beltz
Alternate Names
None
Related or Similar California Salamanders
Speckled Black Salamander Santa Cruz Black Salamander Wandering Salamander Clouded Salamander
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. 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. Storer, Tracy I. A Synopsis of the Amphibia of California. University of Califonia Publications in Zoology Volume 27, The University of California Press, 1925. Jones, Lawrence L. C. , William P. Leonard, Deanna H. Olson, editors. Amphibians of the Pacific Northwest. Seattle Audubon Society, 2005. Stebbins, Robert C. and Nathan W. Cohen. A Natural History of Amphibians. Princeton University Press, 1997.

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. 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.
Organization	Status Listing
U.S. Endangered Species Act (ESA)
California Endangered Species Act (CESA)
California Department of Fish and Game
Bureau of Land Management
USDA Forest Service
Natureserve Global Conservation Status Ranks
World Conservation Union - IUCN Red List

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