COMMON NAME(S): Pacific giant salamander

SCIENTIFIC NAME: Dicamptodon tenebrosus

CLASSIFICATION  Phylum: Chordata
Class: Amphibia
Order: Caudata
Family: Dicamptodontidae

DESCRIPTION:
Length: adult 13-14 inches
General: Dull brown or gray in larval stage though mottling in terrestrial adults is not uncommon. Their short gill structures often take several seasons of growth before metamorphosing to adults. This is one of the largest terrestrial salamanders. Can produce a low rattling vocal sound when threatened.

RANGE: Cascade Mountains of Washington and Oregon, the Willapa Hills of southwestern Washington and the coast ranges of Oregon and California but not in the Olympic Mountains.

HABITAT: Terrestrial living in clear, cold mountain streams adjacent to mountain forests. They spend most of the day underground or under rocks in streams, but move about openly on the stream bottom and on land in rainy weather.

STATUS:  WA State: Common in appropriate habitat, but are sensitive to stream silt and warming caused by excessive logging and other human activities.

DIET: The diet consists of anything small enough for a salamander to overpower and eat, including invertebrates and small vertebrates such as salamanders, small rodents, and lizards. Aquatic larvae feed on small aquatic invertebrates and small fish hatchlings.

REPRODUCTION: Spring and fall. Neoteny (when a salamander remains a larva living in an aquatic environment but can reproduce) is common in the Pacific Giant Salamander. These individuals will reach total lengths of 14 inches as well. Larvae transform in 18 months to three years, depending on environmental conditions and the size and permanence of the stream.

LIFE SPAN: up to 25 years

BEHAVIOR: Do not stray far from streams.

SOURCES: Herpetology Northwest, May 2006; Burke Museum of Natural History, May 2006; Californiaherps.com, May 2006