A Guide to the Amphibians
and Reptiles of California

Black-bellied Slender Salamander -
Batrachoseps nigriventris

Cope, 1869

Click on a picture for a larger view

Description • Taxonomy • Species Description • Scientific Name • Alt. Names • Similar Herps • References • Conservation Status

Red and possibly Gray: Range in California

Range Map of all Slender Salamanders in California

Click on the map for a topographical view

Map with California County Names
s

Adult, San Luis Obispo County

Adult, San Luis Obispo County

Adult, San Gabriel Mountains,
Los Angeles County

Sub-adult, 1400 ft., San Gabriel Mountains, Los Angeles County

Adults, 3,800 ft. San Gabriel Mountains, Los Angeles County

Adult, 3,000 ft. San Gabriel Mountains, Los Angeles County

Underside of Sub-adult, 1400 ft., San Gabriel Mountains, Los Angeles County

Underside of adult ,
San Luis Obispo County

Adult found on the Palos Verdes Peninsula, L.A. County © Brian Hinds

Adult, Santa Ana Mountains,
Orange County © Jay Keller

Underside of adult, Santa Ana Mountains, Orange County © Jay Keller

Adult and Juvenile,
Santa Barbara County

Sub-adult, 1400 ft., San Gabriel Mountains, Los Angeles County

Adult, San Luis Obispo County
© Ryan Sikola

Adult, coastal Southern California
© Ivan Vershynin

Adult, San Luis Obispo County
© Ryan Sikola

Adult, San Luis Obispo County

Adult out on the crawl near the edge of a creek in Santa Barbara County
© Max Roberts

Santa Cruz Island Population

Adult, Santa Cruz Island, Santa Barbara County

Comparisons With Similar Sympatric Slender Salamander Species

B. nigriventris
B. major

Coexists with B. major - Garden Slender Salamander, in some mountains in Los Angeles and Orange counties.
Ongoing surveys have found that both species occur throughout most of the L.A. Basin, as well as in the mountains and foothills.

B. major is the larger, more robust, of the two species, with longer limbs and a broader neck and head.

It can be difficult to identify these two species where they both are found because it is hard to tell them apart unless they are side by side and that is not often possible. You can't tell just by the size or the body color alone. Both species are about the same size, and both have similar color variations. The best way to determine the species is to look at the color of the salamander's underside.

(Go to this page for more information about how to differentiate a Black-bellied Slender Salamander from a Garden Slender Salamander.)

If you find a salamander in L.A. or Orange Counties, it could be either species. (If you find it high up in the San Gabriel Mountains, look here.) If you find a Black-bellied Slender Salamander in one of these counties, it will be helpful to those who are tracking their range in the area if you take some pictures and then report your observation at H.E.R.P. and iNaturalist. People there will also help you to confirm your ID as long as you photograph the underside.

Black-bellied Slender Salamander comparison

Top: B. nigriventris
Bottom: B. major

Note the larger body, legs, and toes of B. major.
It can be difficult to identify these two species where they both are found because it is hard to tell them apart unless they are side by side and that is not often possible. You can't always tell just by the body color alone. The best way to determine the species is to look at the coloring of the underside. (See pictures to the right.)

Left: B. nigriventris
Right: B. major

Comparison of the undersides of both species.

B. nigriventris is dark in color on the belly and under the tail.

B. major is light gray under the tail and throat and not as dark on the belly.

Left: B. major
Right: B. nigriventris
Both from Los Angeles County © Max Roberts

B. nigriventris
B. minor

Coexists with B. minor - Lesser Slender Salamander, in the Coast Range.
B. minor is distinguished by its more robust body, broader head and longer and larger limbs with more conspicuous toes than B. nigriventris.

Top: B. nigriventris
Bottom: B. minor

B. minor occurs entirely within the range of B.nigriventris. It is shown here with a small adult specimen of B. nigriventris that was found outside of the range of
B. minor. B minor has distinctly larger hands and feet.

Top: B. nigriventris
Bottom: B. minor

This comparison shows the different head and face shapes of adults of the two species. B. minor has a distinctly broader head with more prominent eyes. © Ryan Sikola

Top: B. nigriventris
Bottom: B. minor

This comparison shows the different head and face shapes of yearling juveniles of the two species.
© Ryan Sikola

Left: B. minor
Right: B. nigriventris

Left: B. nigriventris
Right: B. minor

Top: B. minor
Bottom: B. nigriventris

Comparison of two salamanders found under same log in San Luis Obispo County
© Spencer Riffle

B. nigriventris
B. incognitus

Coexists with B. incognitus - San Simeon Slender Salamander, in some areas of northern San Luis Obispo County.
B. incognitus is the larger, more robust, of the two species, with longer limbs and a broader neck and head than B. nigriventris.
The digits of the toes of B. incognitus are individually distinct, and easier to see when compared to B. nigriventris which has smaller digits.

San Simeon Slender Salamander Comparison

Top: B. incognitus - San Simeon Slender Salamander
Bottom: B. nigriventris

B. incognitus has slightly larger legs and toes and neck.

Left: B. nigriventris
Right: B. incognitus - San Simeon Slender Salamander

B. incognitus has slightly larger legs and toes and neck.

B. nigriventris
B. gabrieli

Coexists with B. gabrieli - San Gabriel Mountains Slender Salamander, at some localities in the San Gabriel Mountains.
B. nigriventris has a narrower head, shorter limbs, smaller feet, longer tail.
More Information.

Left: B. nigriventris

Right: B. gabrieli - San Gabriel Mountains Slender Salamander

The two species coexist at some locations in Los Angeles County. These two were found sheltering next to each other.
Note the larger more robust limbs and body of B. gabrieli.
© William Flaxington

Left: B. gabrieli - San Gabriel Mountains Slender Salamander

Right: B. nigriventris

L. A. County © Ryan Sikola

B. nigriventris
B. stebbinsi

Coexists with B. stebbinsi - Tehachapi Slender Salamander, at several locations in the Tehachapi Mountains.
B. stebbinsi can be distinguished by its more robust body with longer legs, largeer feet, distinct toes, and broader head.

Top: B. nigriventris
Bottom: B stebbinsi -
Tehachapi Slender Salamander

These species coexist in a small area in the Ft. Tejon area and the Tehachapi Mountains. These two salamaders were found together under the same rock. The B. stebbinsi here is a bit shorter than the B. nigriventris, but note the much larger legs and toes of B. stebbinsi.

B. nigriventris
B. gavilanensis

Coexists with B. gavilanensis - Gabilan Mountains Slender Salamander, in the southern part of the range of B. gavilanensis.
B. gavilanensis is the larger, more robust, of the two species, with longer limbs and a broader neck and head than B. nigriventris.

Top: B. gavilanensis -
Gabilan Mountains Slender Salamander
Bottom: B. nigriventris

The ranges of these species overlap in some areas.

B. nigriventris
B. pacificus

Left: Juvenile B. nigriventris
Right: Juvenile B. pacificus - Channel Islands Slender Salamander

Santa Cruz Island, Santa Barbara County

B. pacificus has proportionally larger body, legs, and toes, and a lighter venter.

Left: JuvenileB. pacificus - Channel Islands Slender Salamander
Right: Juvenile B. nigriventris

Santa Cruz Island, Santa Barbara County

B. pacificus has proportionally larger body, legs, and toes, and a lighter venter.

Habitat

Habitat, San Luis Obispo County

Habitat, San Gabriel Mountains,
Los Angeles County

Habitat, San Luis Obispo County

Habitat, 3,800 ft., San Gabriel Mountains, Los Angeles County

Habitat, Santa Cruz Island

Habitat, 3,800 ft., San Gabriel Mountains, Los Angeles County

Habitat, 1400 ft., San Gabriel Mountains, Los Angeles County

Short Video

Black-bellied Slender Salamanders squirming around in Santa Barbara County

Description

Size

Adults are 1 1/4 - 1 7/8 inches long (3.2 - 4.7 cm) from snout to vent.

Appearance

A small slim salamander with 18 - 21 costal grooves.
Short limbs, a narrow head, long slender body, very 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 typical of Slender Salamanders. (Other salamanders found in California have five toes on the hind feet.)
The tail may be up to twice the body length on adults found on the mainland, but only about the size of the body length on adults from Santa Cruz Island.

Color and Pattern

Color above is dark brown or blackish with a reddish, brown, or tan dorsal stripe.
The venter is dark with fine white speckling.

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, fall through spring.
Retreats underground when the soil dries or when air temperature drops to near freezing.
Found under rocks, logs, bark, and other debris.

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

Eats a variety of small invertebrates.
Feeding behavior is not well known, but other Batrachoseps species are sit-and-wait predators that use a projectile tongue to catch prey.

Reproduction

Little is known about the Breeding behavior and egg-laying habits of this species.
Reproduction is terrestrial.

Eggs

Slender Salamanders typically lay eggs in moist places on land.
In southern California, B. nigriventris lays eggs in the winter which hatch in winter and early spring.
Eggs have been found in early December in the Coast Range.

Young

Young develop completely in the egg and hatch fully formed.

Habitat

Inhabits mostly oak woodlands but also found in chaparral, grasslands, streamsides, and oak and pine forests.
Found under rocks, logs, bark, and other debris in moist areas.
On Santa Cruz Island, occurs in streamside Eucalyptus forest, under coastal driftwood, in oak woodland, and in open grassland.

South of the Tehachapi Mountains, this species is found mostly in moist mountain and foothills canyons.

Geographical Range

Endemic to California. Found in mountains and valleys of the coast range from southern Monterey County south to the Santa Ana Mountains, including the Tehachapi, Santa Monica and San Gabriel Mountains east to Cajon Pass. Also found on Santa Cruz Island.

Sympatric with B. gabrieli in the San Gabriel mountains, with B. minor, B. gavilanensis and B. incognitus in the Coast Range, with B. m. major in Los Angeles and Orange counties, with B. stebbinsi in the Tehachapi mountains, and with B. pacificus on Santa Cruz Island.
(See lllustrations Above)

Elevational Range

From sea level to around 8,200 ft. (2,500 m.)

Notes on Taxonomy

Animals from the western slope of the central and southern Sierra Nevada mountains previously identified as B. nigriventris,
were re-described as B. gregarius in 1998.
In 2000, Wake and Jockusch determined that B. nigriventris consists of three distinct lineages which include those found from Monterey County south to the Tehachapi Mountains, those found south of the Tehachap Mountains from Ventura and Los Angeles south to the Santa Ana Mountains and east to Cajon Pass, and those found on Santa Cruz Island.

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

Alternate and Previous Names (Synonyms)

Batrachoseps nigriventris - Black-bellied Slender Salamander (Stebbins 1985, 2003, 2012)
Batrachoseps attenuatus - California Slender Salamander (Stebbins 1954, 1966)
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)

Conservation Issues (Conservation Status)

None

Taxonomy
Family	Plethodontidae	Lungless Salamanders	Gray, 1850
Genus	Batrachoseps	Slender Salamanders	Bonaparte, 1841
Species	nigriventris	Black-bellied Slender Salamander	Cope, 1869
Original Description
Cope, 1869 - Proc. Acad. Nat. Sci. Philadelphia, Vol. 21, p. 98 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. nigriventris: Latin - black ventris of the belly, referring to the dark venter. from Scientific and Common Names of the Reptiles and Amphibians of North America - Explained © Ellin Beltz
Similar Neighboring Salamanders
Batrachoseps incognitus Batrachoseps minor Batrachoseps gavilanensis Batrachoseps gabrieli Batrachoseps major major
More Information and References
California Department of Fish and Wildlife AmphibiaWeb Hansen, Robert W. and Shedd, Jackson D. California Amphibians and Reptiles. (Princeton Field Guides.) Princeton University Press, 2025. 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. American Museum of Natural History - Amphibian Species of the World 6.2 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. 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 April 2024 State of California Special Animals List and the April 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. Check the current California Department of Fish and Wildlife sport fishing regulations to find out if this animal can be legally pursued and handled or collected with possession of a current fishing license. You can also look at the summary of the sport fishing regulations as they apply only to reptiles and amphibians that has been made for this website. 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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Black-bellied Slender Salamander - Batrachoseps nigriventris

Black-bellied Slender Salamander -
Batrachoseps nigriventris