Albino Aneides lugubris? Or what?

Hello all,

I recently found a newt under a wooden barrel in my yard. I live at about 6000 ft asl in the San Bernardino Mountains of southern California. I'm new to the area and I don't know the local amphibians, but the arboreal salamander is known to occur here. If this is Aneides lugubris, however, it must be a very lightly pigmented individual (I'm not sure that it's a true albino). I've attached a photo. Any assistance you can give in helping me identify this lovely fellow would be greatly appreciated!

Thanks, Brian

Re: albino Aneides lugubris? Or what?

It's an Ensatina.

Re: albino Aneides lugubris? Or what?

And it's not albino, it has black eyes.

Re: albino Aneides lugubris? Or what?

Thanks for the ID. Do you have any guess as to the species or subspecies?

Re: albino Aneides lugubris? Or what?

Ensatina e. eschscholtzii

Monterey Ensatinas from southern California are much paler than the ones in Monterey county.

Aneides

The dead giveaway that it's an Ensatina, btw, is the round tail with a strong constriction near the base.

The subspecies can be identified by means of range maps in any decent field guide, unless you're very close to a range boundary. Because subspecies tend to overlap in characteristics and interbreed freely, geographic location is a better indicator in many cases of "correct" identification than any physical traits might be.

That said, ensatinas are actually a complex of species and the current subspecies identities don't tell an accurate story. There is often very little interbreeding, even between some nearby and apparently 'identical' populations, while some forms have managed some great feats of range expansion and occasional interbreeding with distant cousins. In your case, there is the possibility of pure large-blotched, pure yellow-blotched, or hybrids of these with each other or with Monterey ensatinas. Most likely you have a pure Monterey, as that's what's found in most of the San Bernardino Mountains.

I have found some on the west end of the SBs that were downright weird looking. They strangest aspect is how they lighten up at night. I have seen some posts from the SBs that claim that they are hybrid (E.e.e. x E.e.c.) or some pigment anomaly, I don't concur with either.

I found a eschscholtziii from the San Diego area that looked completely white! But up in the Monterey area they look reddish.

Aneides