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Northwestern salamander

Ambystoma gracile · Salamanders and newts · Amphibians

Northwestern salamander (Ambystoma gracile): Smooth olive-green to brown or dark brown back, often with blotches and sometimes yellow flecks along the sides. Swollen parotoid glands behind each eye, unusual among ambystomatids. 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.

Scientific name
Ambystoma gracile
Family
Ambystomatidae
In North America
Native
Range
Pacific coast from extreme southeastern Alaska through coastal British Columbia, Washington and Oregon to northern California (Mendocino area), from sea level to about 3,110 m.
Biology

How to identify it

Smooth olive-green to brown or dark brown back, often with blotches and sometimes yellow flecks along the sides. [1][2]

Swollen parotoid glands behind each eye, unusual among ambystomatids. [1][2]

Glandular ridge along the top of the tail, which tapers sharply toward the tip. [1][2]

Terrestrial adults about 14-22 cm total length; aquatic adults reach about 26 cm. [1][2]

Breeding males are darker than females; unmetamorphosed males have enlarged hind limbs and feet. [1][2]

Field knowledge

Where it lives

Humid forest, woodland and open grassland near breeding ponds; adults shelter under rotting logs, leaf litter and debris along stream banks or in animal burrows. [1][2]

Eggs are laid attached to vegetation in ponds, lakes and slow streams; montane populations are often paedomorphic (remain gilled). [1][2]

Field knowledge

How it behaves

Non-paedomorphic adults live underground most of the year and are seen mainly at breeding time and on fall rains. [1][2]

Adults migrate on rainy nights between nonbreeding habitat and breeding ponds; breeding runs from January in the south to July in the north or at elevation. [1][2]

Nocturnal on land; aquatic forms are strictly nocturnal where fish are present. When alarmed it assumes a defensive posture and secretes a milky toxic substance. [1][2]

Feeds on soft-bodied invertebrates such as worms, snails and insect larvae; introduced trout reduce larval survival. [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

Pacific coast from extreme southeastern Alaska through coastal British Columbia, Washington and Oregon to northern California (Mendocino area), from sea level to about 3,110 m.

Biology

Sources

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

  1. NatureServe · reviewed 2026-09-30

    NatureServe

  2. University of Michigan Museum of Zoology · reviewed 2026-09-30

    University of Michigan Museum of Zoology