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A Guide to the Amphibians
and Reptiles of California


California Slender Salamander - Batrachoseps attenuatus

(Eschscholtz, 1833)
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California Slender Salamander range mapRed: Range in California

Range Map of all Slender Salamanders in California

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Map with California County Names






observation link





California Slender Salamander California Slender Salamander
Adult, Del Norte County Adult, Humboldt County
California Slender Salamander California Slender Salamander California Slender Salamander California Slender Salamander
Adult, Del Norte County   Adult, Santa Clara County Adult, Del Norte County Adult, Santa Clara County
California Slender Salamander California Slender Salamander California Slender Salamander California Slender Salamander
Adult, Humboldt County Adult, Del Norte County Adult, Humboldt County
California Slender Salamander California Slender Salamander
Adult Solano County Adult, Butte County
California Slender Salamander California Slender Salamander California Slender Salamander California Slender Salamander
Adult, Solano County Adult, Santa Clara County Adult, Contra Costa County.
When uncovered, slender salamanders are often found resting in this coiled defensive position.
California Slender Salamander California Slender Salamander California Slender Salamander California Slender Salamander
Adult, Humboldt County Adult, Mendocino County Adult, Sonoma County
California Slender Salamander California Slender Salamander California Slender Salamander California Slender Salamander
Adult, Solano County Adult, Alameda County Adult, Humboldt County
California Slender Salamander California Slender Salamander California Slender Salamander California Slender Salamander
Adult, Contra Costa County,
coiled in defense
Adult, Sonoma County Adult, Contra Costa County Adult, Napa County
California Slender Salamander California Slender Salamander California Slender Salamander California Slender Salamander
Adult, Bodega Bay, Sonoma County Adult underside, Santa Cruz County
California Slender Salamander California Slender Salamander California Slender Salamander California Slender Salamander
Adult, Marin County Adult, Napa County
California Slender Salamander California Slender Salamander California Slender Salamander California Slender Salamander
Adult underside, Napa County Adult, underside, Santa Clara County Adult, Santa Cruz County
© Lou Silva
Adults, Santa Cruz County
© Lou Silva
California Slender Salamander California Slender Salamander California Slender Salamander California Slender Salamander
Adult from, Del Norte County
© Alan Barron
Adult from Whaler Island, Del Norte County © Alan Barron
California Slender Salamander California Slender Salamander California Slender Salamander toes  
Adult Del Norte County © Alan Barron Adult Del Norte County © Alan Barron Slender Salmanders (genus Batrachoseps) have only 4 toes on their hind feet. All other California salamanders have 5 toes on their hind feet.  
       
Juveniles
California Slender Salamander California Slender Salamander California Slender Salamander California Slender Salamander
Tiny juvenile, Sonoma County Underside of juvenile,
Del Norte County © Alan Barron
       
Abberant California Slender Salamanders
California Slender Salamander California Slender Salamander California Slender Salamander California Slender Salamander
Albino adult California Slender Salamander, Alameda County. © Damon Tighe
(The dark areas under the skin above the eyes is not caused by melanin, the dark pigment.)
Unusually dark, possibly melanistic, adult, Del Norte County © Alan Barron
California Slender Salamander California Slender Salamander California Slender Salamander California Slender Salamander
Bottom/Left: Albino salamander
Top/Right: Normally-pigmented salamander
Both from Alameda County. © Damon Tighe
This salamander of unknown age (missing most of its tail) was found in Santa Clara County. It appears to lack all pigment, making it either albino or leucistic (the eye color is not known.) © Evan Mehta
California Slender Salamander      
Adult, San Francisco County, with a forked tail. The extra fork probably grew from a break in the tail that did not cause the original tail to detach. © Zach Lim      
       
Comparisons With a Few Sympatric Salamander Species
California Slender Salamander comp California Slender Salamander comp Hell Hollow Slender Salamander comparison California Slender Salamander and ensatina
Left: B. attenuatus
Right: B. gavilanensis - Gabilan Mountains Slender Salamander

In Southern Santa Cruz County, the ranges of these species overlap. They are very similar, but you can see here that B. gavilanensis has proportionally larger fingers and toes.
Left: B. attenuatus
Right: B. diabolicus - Hell Hollow Slender Salamander

In the central Sierra Nevada, the range of these species overlaps. They are very similar, but B. diabolicus has proportionally larger legs and toes. (The salamanders shown here are not of equal size. If they were, the difference would be more obvious.)
Top: Oregon Ensatina
Bottom: B. attenuatus

Both salamanders were found found under a piece of bark in Mendocino County.
California Giant Salamander      
Top: B. attenuatus
Bottom: Dicamptodon ensatus - California Giant Salamander.

These are the smallest genus of salamander found in California (Batrachoseps) and the largest (Dicamptodon).
     
       
Predation
Monterey Ring-necked Snake      
A Pacific Ring-necked Snake eating a California Slender Salamander in Marin County © Andre Giraldi      
       
Habitat
Coastal Giant Salamander Habitat Coastal Giant Salamander Habitat Coastal Giant Salamander Habitat Arboreal Salamander Habitat
Habitat, Contra Costa County Habitat, Contra Costa County Habitat, Alameda County Typical oak woodland habitat,
Contra Costa County
California Slender Salamander Habitat California Slender Salamander Habitat California Slender Salamander Habitat California Slender Salamander Habitat
Urban backyard habitat,
Alameda County
Habitat, Butte County Habitat, Glenn County Habitat, redwood forest,
Del Norte County
Northwestern Salamander Habitat
Speckled Black Salamander Habitat Sierran Treefrog Habitat Sierran Treefrog Habitat
Habitat, Mendocino County Habitat, Mendocino County
Habitat, Bodega Bay, Sonoma County Habitat, Contra Costa County
Northwestern Salamander Habitat Arboreal Salamander Habitat Santa Cruz Black Salamander Habitat Sierran Treefrog Habitat
Redwood forest habitat,
Humboldt County
Habitat, Marin County Habitat, Santa Cruz County Habitat, Alameda County
Sierran Treefrog Habitat Sierran Treefrog Habitat Sierran Treefrog Habitat Sierran Treefrog Habitat
Habitat, Marin County Habitat, Mendocino County Habitat, Napa County California slender salamanders are often common in urban backyards that offer cover and moisture, such as this one in Vallejo, Solano County
Yellow-eyed Ensatina Habitat Yellow-eyed Ensatina Habitat    
A careful look underneath the fallen branches and bark of the dead tree shown above on a wet winter afternoon turned up 16 salamanders of 4 species - one Arboreal Salamander, two Coast Range Newts, one Yellow-eyed Ensatina, and 12 California Slender Salamanders, proving that wood debris on a forest floor is an important microhabitat for salamanders. Along with fallen debris, tree bark, tree cavities, root holes, and splits in trees are also useful habitat for many kinds of wildlife, including birds, mammals, amphibians and reptiles, but dead trees and their debris are often removed indiscriminately without consideration for wildlife.

The Cavity Conservation Initiative is a group whose goal is to educate land managers and the public about the value of dead trees.
   
       
Short Videos
California Slender Salamander California Slender Salamander    
A few quick looks at several California Slender Salamanders sitting still, coiled up, and quickly wriggling away. On a late winter day in Northern California when the ground is green and wet it seems like there's a California Slender Salamander under everything you turn over.    
     
Description
 
Size
Adults are 1 1/4 - 1 7/8 inches long (3.2 - 4.7 cm) from snout to vent, 3 - 5 1/2 inches ( 7.5 - 14 cm) in total length.

Appearance
A small slim salamander with 18 -21 costal grooves.
Short limbs, a long slender body with a narrow head and a long tail, and conspicuous costal and caudal grooves give this species the worm-like appearance typical of most Slender Salamanders.
There are four toes on the front and hind feet, which is also typical of Slender Salamanders.
(Other California salamanders have five toes on the hind feet.)
Color and Pattern
Variable in color; generally black or dark above, with red, brown, yellow, or tan coloring forming a dorsal stripe, sometimes with a herringbone pattern.
The venter is dark, with fine white speckles.

Life History and Behavior
A member of family Plethodontidae, the Plethodontid or Lungless Salamanders.

Plethodontid salamanders do not breathe through lungs. They conduct respiration through their skin and the tissues lining their mouth. This requires them to live in damp environments on land and to move about on the ground only during times of high humidity. (Plethodontid salamanders native to California do not inhabit streams or bodies of water but they are capable of surviving for a short time if they fall into water.)

Plethodontid salamanders are also distinguished by their naso-labial grooves, which are vertical slits between the nostrils and upper lip that are lined with glands associated with chemoreception.

All Plethodontid Salamanders native to California lay eggs in moist places on land.
The young develop in the egg and hatch 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 like some other types of salamanders.)
Activity
Active on rainy or wet nights when temperatures are moderate, beginning with the first fall rains until the spring or summer dry period.
In coastal forests which remain moist most of the year, activity may continue all year long.
Retreats underground when the soil dries or when air temperature gets below freezing.
Individuals tend to remain in a small area most of their lives, rarely moving beyond two meters distance.
Longevity
Longevity has been estimated at 8 - 10 years.
Defense
Slender salamanders use several defense tactics, including:
- Coiling and remaining still, relying on cryptic coloring to avoid detection.
- Uncoiling quickly and springing away repeatedly bouncing over the ground, then remaining still again to avoid detection.
- Detaching the tail, which wriggles on the ground to distract a predator from the salamander long enough for it to escape. 
(After its tail is detached or severed, the salamander will grow a new tail.)
Diet and Feeding
Diet consists of a variety of invertebrates, including springtails, small beetles, snails, mites, spiders, and isopods.

A sit-and-wait predator, catching prey with a projectile tongue.
Reproduction
Reproduction is terrestrial.
Adults reach sexual maturity from an estimated 2 - 4 years.
Courtship probably occurs underground, but when it occurs is not known.
Eggs
Eggs are laid in October and November, shortly after the beginning of the fall rains.
Sierra Nevada populations may lay eggs in December and January.
Clutch sizes of 4 - 13 eggs have been recorded.
Females deposit eggs in moist areas under objects such as rocks and logs or underground.
Several females may lay eggs in the same location creating a communal nest, but they apparently do not remain with the eggs.
However, adult salamanders have been found at egg deposition sites.
Young
Young develop completely in the egg and hatch fully formed. Incubation time in a laboratory ranged from 72 - 86 days.
In the wild, hatchlings have been observed in late December, January, and February.

Habitat
Found in a variety of habitats: chaparral, woodland, grassland, forests, urban yards, vacant lots, marshes, and beach driftwood.
Generally found in moist locations, under logs, rocks, bark, leaf litter, stumps, debris. Can be very abundant in an area.

Geographical Range
Endemic to California and extreme southwest Oregon.
Occurs from central California south of the Bay Area in San Benito County, north along the coast and coast ranges into Oregon and in the foothills of the Sierra Nevada mountains from Butte County to Calaveras County. Isolated populations occur in scattered areas in the northern Central Valley and in Shasta County.

(Several specimens in the Museum of Vertebrate Zoology in Berkekely that were collected in Tuolumne County in1972 and identified as B. attenuatus were revised to B. diabolicus in 2002.)

Full Species Range Map
Notes on Taxonomy

Here's a Diagram of the Batrachoseps Complex showing the relationships between species.


Alternate and Previous Names (Synonyms)

Batrachoseps attenuatus
- California Slender Salamander (Stebbins 1954, 1966, 1985, 2003, 2012)
Batrachoseps attenuatus attenuatus - Worm-salamander (Bishop 1943)
Batrachoseps attenuatus - Slender Salamander (Storer 1925)
Batrachoseps attenuatus - Slender Salamander (Grinnell and Camp 1917)
Batrachoseps nigriventris (Cope 1869)
Batrachoseps attenuatus (Cooper 1868)
Batrachoseps attenuata (Baird 1850)
Salamandrina attenuata (Eschscholtz 1833)


In 2007, Martinez-Solano, Jockusch, and Wake (2007. Molecular Ecology 16: 4335–4355) suggested that Batrachoseps attenuatus contains at least five cryptic species.

In December 2013, Richard Highton, in Detecting cryptic species in phylogeographic studies/ Speciation in the California Slender Salamander, Batrachoseps attenuatus(2013 "2014." Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution 71: 127–141) - from a study based on DNA sequence variation, suggested that Batrachoseps attenuatus is actually composed of 5 major species complexes, Northern, Eastern, Bodega Bay, Southern (North), Southern (South), which contain at least 39 cryptic species.

I have made a very rough map approximating the ranges of these 5 clades which you can see below.

California Slender Salamander range map
Yellow = Northern Clade
Purple = Eastern Clade
Blue = Bodega Clade
Bright Green = Southern Clade - North
Orange = Southern Clade - South

Conservation Issues  (Conservation Status)
Still present over most of their historical range except in the Central Valley where their habitat of narrow strips of riparian oak woodlands are being replaced with drainage ditches.
Taxonomy
Family Plethodontidae Lungless Salamanders Gray, 1850
Genus Batrachoseps Slender Salamanders Bonaparte, 1841
Species

attenuatus California Slender Salamander (Eschscholtz, 1833)
Original Description
Eschscholtz, 1833 - Zool. Atlas, Pt. 5, p. 1, pl. 21, figs. 1-14

from Original Description Citations for the Reptiles and Amphibians of North America © Ellin Beltz

Meaning of the Scientific Name
Batrachoseps: Greek - amphibian, frog lizard - describes lizard-like appearance.
attenuatus: Latin - slender, narrow.

from Scientific and Common Names of the Reptiles and Amphibians of North America - Explained © Ellin Beltz

Alternate Names
None

Similar Neighboring Salamanders
Batrachoseps diabolicus
Batrachoseps gregarius
Batrachoseps gavilanensis

More Information and References
California Department of Fish and Wildlife

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.

Flaxington, William C. Amphibians and Reptiles of California: Field Observations, Distribution, and Natural History. Fieldnotes Press, Anaheim, California, 2021.

Samuel M. McGinnis and Robert C. Stebbins. Peterson Field Guide to Western Reptiles & Amphibians. 4th Edition. Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company, 2018.

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.

Joseph Grinnell and Charles Lewis Camp. A Distributional List of the Amphibians and Reptiles of California. University of California Publications in Zoology Vol. 17, No. 10, pp. 127-208. July 11, 1917.

Conservation Status

The following conservation status listings for this animal are taken from the January 2024 State of California Special Animals List and the January 2024 Federally Listed Endangered and Threatened Animals of California list (unless indicated otherwise below.) Both lists are produced by multiple agencies every year, and sometimes more than once per year, so the conservation status listing information found below might not be from the most recent lists. To make sure you are seeing the most recent listings, go to this California Department of Fish and Wildlife web page where you can search for and download both lists:
https://www.wildlife.ca.gov/Data/CNDDB/Plants-and-Animals.

A detailed explanation of the meaning of the status listing symbols can be found at the beginning of the two lists. For quick reference, I have included them on my Special Status Information page.

If no status is listed here, the animal is not included on either list. This most likely indicates that there are no serious conservation concerns for the animal. To find out more about an animal's status you can also go to the NatureServe and IUCN websites to check their rankings.

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  Notes
NatureServe Global Ranking
NatureServe State Ranking
U.S. Endangered Species Act (ESA) None
California Endangered Species Act (CESA) None
California Department of Fish and Wildlife None
Bureau of Land Management None
USDA Forest Service None
IUCN
 

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