Pacific Giant Salamander
Dicamptodon tenebrosus
AKA: Coastal Giant Salamander

Description 7-11 3/4" (17.8-30 cm). Robust and smooth-skinned. Brown or purplish, with black mottling. Belly light brown to yellowish-white. No foot tubercles; 3 segments on 4th toe of hind foot. Costal grooves, 12-13, indistinct.

Breeding Terrestrial adults breed in spring, in river headwaters. Eggs laid singly, on submerged timber. Hatching larvae, about 5/8" (16 mm), may transform during or following 2nd year at 3 1/4-6" (8.9-15.2 cm). Neotenic larvae mature at about 8" (20.3 cm).

Habitat Rivers, their tributaries, and surrounding cool, humid forests.

Range Extreme sw. British Columbia south along coast to Santa Cruz County, California; Rocky Mountains in Idaho and extreme wc. Montana.

Discussion Most salamanders are voiceless, but the Pacific Giant has been known to emit a low-pitched sound when captured. Land-dwelling adults live under logs, rocks, and forest litter but are sometimes seen crawling on the surface or even climbing in bushes or trees to 8 feet (2.4 m). They eat large insects, mice, salamanders, and garter snakes. Voracious larvae cannabalize smaller larvae and eat Tailed Frog tadpoles and insects.