Five newts and salamanders are found in the Santa Monica Mountains National Recreation Area – arboreal salamander (Aneides lugubris), black-bellied slender salamander (Batrachoseps nigriventris), Pacific slender salamander (Batrachoseps pacificus), ensatina (Ensatina eschscholtzii), and California newt (Taricha torosa).

National Park Service

The California newt (Taricha torosa) is the largest native salamander found in the Santa Monica Mountains.

California newt

The California newt (Taricha torosa) is the largest salamander in the Santa Monica Mountains. Like all amphibians, newts spend part of their life history in the water (winter and spring) and the other part on land (summer and fall). California newts are brightly colored reddish-orange to warn potential predators that they are toxic. Their skin secretes a potent neurotoxin tetrodoxin, the same toxin found in pufferfishes and harlequin frogs.

Habitat loss and modification, and the introduction of non-native species such as crayfish and mosquito fish, has led to a decline in the populations of California newts in the Santa Monica Mountains. Increased sedimentation and run-off from urban development has degraded much of the breeding habitat for California newts while making it more hospitable for introduced species such as crayfish to persist. In addition, crayfish and other introduced fishes predate on newt eggs and juveniles. California newts are currently listed as a California Species of Special Concern (DFG-CSC) and are a park species of special concern. The newt is one of the target species in the park’s aquatic amphibian monitoring program.