Kern Canyon Slender Salamander

Batrachoseps simatus

Reptiles & AmphibiansIn the app

This salamander has a general snout-to-vent length of 1.63 – 2.2 in. It is small and slim with short limbs and a slender, long body, a narrow head and a very long tail. I…

Kern Canyon Slender Salamander illustration

How to identify

This salamander has a general snout-to-vent length of 1.63 – 2.2 in. It is small and slim with short limbs and a slender, long body, a narrow head and a very long tail. It has 20 – 21 (7-9 coastal grooves between adpressed limbs) with both conspicuous and caudal grooves. A combination of these features gives this species its worm-like appearance that most slender salamanders possess. The Kern Canyon slender salamander has four toes on its hind and front feet. It has a dark brown coloration with spots of bronze and red. The eggs hatch with young that look like parents and do not go through an aquatic larvae phase.

Range

This salamander is found in Kern County, California. They can only be seen in the forested regions of southern Sierra Nevada. They can also be found protected in the Sequoia National Forest just between Bakersfield and Lake Isabella.

Habitat

These salamanders are found in narrow canyons covered with cottonwoods and willows. They thrive in places that stay moist and cool through spring and do not get sunlight in winter. Habitats include wet creek margins, seepages, talus and exposed chaparral. You can find them beneath rocks, barks, logs and leaf litter especially during very moist periods. They use their projectile tongues to catch a variety of invertebrates on the forest floor. Females lay eggs in moist places on land between December and February depending on rainfall.

Similar species

Batrachoseps simatus is generally larger and more robust when you compare with other slender salamanders. They have longer legs, broader, broader head, and larger toes. Gregarious Slender Salamander or Batrachoseps gregarious is similar in size and also has a long tail. However, this salamander has fewer costal grooves and a browner color. Tehachapi Slender Salamander or Batrachoseps stebbinsi is slightly longer and has lighter coloration of reddish brown with beige, tan and black patches that may form a dorsal stripe. Greenhorn Mountains Slender Salamander or Batrachoseps altasierrae is 1.38 – 1.87 in and is therefore smaller. Coloration also sets it apart with a reddish, yellowish or dark brown dorsal stripe.