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Black salamander

Aneides flavipunctatus · Salamanders and newts · Amphibians

Black salamander (Aneides flavipunctatus): Adults slate to black above and below, often with small white spots or a wash of bronze or olive. Up to about 94 mm snout-vent and 160 mm total length; 15-16 costal grooves; short limbs. This profile does not establish whether taking it is legal anywhere.

Check rules for a place and date

Certified rules currently represented in Hunt: coverage in development. This is coverage, not a legal answer.

Black salamander — verified North Ground species photograph
North Ground · All rights reserved
Scientific name
Aneides flavipunctatus
Family
Plethodontidae
In North America
Native
Range
Southwestern Oregon south through the California coastal mountains to the Russian River (Sonoma County), with isolated populations near Santa Cruz and around Shasta Lake; sea level to about 1,700 m. Not found in Canada.
Biology

How to identify it

Adults slate to black above and below, often with small white spots or a wash of bronze or olive. [1][2]

Up to about 94 mm snout-vent and 160 mm total length; 15-16 costal grooves; short limbs. [1][2]

Larger adults have a triangular head from large jaw muscles; toe tips are not squared, unlike its congeners. [1][2]

Juveniles are green-grey or brassy with yellow limb bases and small white or blue spots; in the far north adults keep the juvenile greenish-grey or brassy look. [1][2]

Compared with the clouded salamander: Clouded salamander has squared toe tips and brassy specks on a brown, often lighter back; black salamander toe tips are not squared and adults are slate to black. [1][2]

Species it is confused with

Check these before deciding what you are looking at. If you are not certain what it is, do not shoot.

Field notes

  • Identification Confirm a black salamander before you act. Compared with the clouded salamander: Clouded salamander has squared toe tips and brassy specks on a brown, often lighter back; black salamander toe tips are not squared and adults are slate to black.[1][2]
Field knowledge

Where it lives

Forest, woodland and grassland; southern populations prefer moist woodland along streams and seepages, northern populations grassy areas, and far-north populations moss-covered rockslides. [1][2]

Found under surface cover such as rocks, logs and talus near creeks or seeps. [1][2]

Field knowledge

How it behaves

Terrestrial and needs no standing water for any life stage; eggs are laid underground in July-August and hatch as miniature adults. [1][2]

Active on the surface year-round in moist places and the south, but retreats underground in dry summers in drier northern sites; active mainly October-April in the north. [1][2]

Aggressive, with bite-hold behaviour; 35% of field-caught animals were scarred. Good jumper using its tail. [1][2]

Eats terrestrial arthropods, snails and worms. [1][2]

Regulatory handoff

Limited legal take

Legal take of this species exists only under narrow conditions — a quota, a draw, a permit, a small area, or animals released or held on private land — set by the authorities below. Nowhere else is a legal opportunity implied, and Hunt shows one only where a certified rule establishes it.

Where legal take is listed

Being listed is not an open season. Seasons, zones, licences, methods and limits decide whether this animal may be taken on a given day and place — check Hunt or the authority before you go. Listings read 2026-09-30.

Geospatial intelligence

Where it is found

Southwestern Oregon south through the California coastal mountains to the Russian River (Sonoma County), with isolated populations near Santa Cruz and around Shasta Lake; sea level to about 1,700 m. Not found in Canada.

Biology

Sources

Every claim above is attributed to one of these published sources.

  1. NatureServe · reviewed 2026-09-30

    NatureServe

  2. USDA Forest Service Region 6 and USDI Bureau of Land Management · reviewed 2026-09-30

    USDA Forest Service Region 6 and USDI Bureau of Land Management