Family: Plethodontidae, Lungless Salamanders view all from this family

Description 3 7/8-6 1/2" (9.8-16.7 cm). Slim-bodied and black, with triangular-shaped head. Spotted or frosted above; belly gray-black. Teeth of upper jaw project beyond lip and can be felt by lightly stroking snout tip. Toe tips rounded. Base of juvenile's limbs pale yellow. Costal grooves, 14-15.

Subspecies Speckled (A. f. flavipunctatus), usually with white or pale yellow spots; Sonoma and Napa counties, California to Jackson County, Oregon.
Santa Cruz (A. f. niger), uniformly black above, or with small white spots; Santa Cruz, Santa Clara, and San Mateo counties, California.

Breeding Late spring to summer. Lays 1-2 dozen eggs, each attached by short stalk to common base, in soil cavity or among rocks; hatch in fall. Female guards nest.

Habitat Evergreen to deciduous forest and coastal prairies. Rarely above 2,000' (610 m). Southern populations prefer moist woodlands along streams and seepages; northern populations, grassy areas; in far north, moss-covered rockslides.

Range Extreme sw. Oregon and n. California.

Discussion In southerly areas this salamander is active most of the year; it may be encountered under woodland debris or rocks. Farther north, where it lives away from water, aestication occurs during the dry season, April to October; it returns to the surface during fall rains.