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Chilliwack?

hydromdusa

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I’ve recently been given a collection permit by the provincial government allowing the temporary collection of [FONT=&quot]Dicamptodon tenebrosus [/FONT]for the propose of photographing and documenting them. In Canada and more specifically in BC, the D. tenebrosus is red listed and is only found in the Chilliwack river and surrounding tributaries. This population is under continuous threats from development and logging.
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[FONT=&quot]After five different visits to the region I’ve been unable to locate any D. tenebrosus, larva or adults. I’ve been using numerous research papers, mostly from UBC, which can lead to confirmed D. tenebrosus habitat and populations. Most locations are very remote and require an off-road vehicle ready for inactive logging roads – and a sat phone just incase. [/FONT]
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[FONT=&quot]My question for this forum is has anyone actually been successful in locating D. tenebrosus in the Chilliwack river valley or one of its tributaries? I’m not asking for a specific location, rather just a general area – Foley Lake, Slesse Creek – that sort of thing. Any help would be greatly appreciated. If successful I will certainly share photos here.[/FONT]
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And for the fun of it, another Northwest species.
7126969545_7fdb989e22_b.jpg
 

Jennewt

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This might not help much but... adult Dicamptodons are notoriously difficult to find. Regarding larvae, I visited the same site in Oregon in spring and fall. There were zero larvae to be found in spring (high water), but they were under nearly every rock in the water in the fall (moderate water level). I don't have enough experience to say that fall will always be a better time to find them, but you may need to visit the same sites at different times (or during different water levels) to find them.
 

FrogEyes

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My experience has been the opposite, but for larvae or recently transformed. True adults are fewer in number and more difficult to find, though I found one in OR. I have found vast numbers of young D.tenebrosus in OR and WA, though mainly OR in summer and fall. D.aterrimus is another matter, being very hit and miss. I know of localities where they're common, and others where I have SEEN none...but despite that, where they occur I've found them in minutes, and even found them in MT with only minutes of searching. I think that because BC is at the very northern tip of the range for Dicamptodon, that densities are likely low and streams in which they occur are few. In OR they could well occur in every tiny stream, whereas in BC it might only be one in 10 within their range, which is a situation more like D.aterrimus. I've searched briefly in the Chilliwack area, with no luck, but it also wasn't the sorts of habitats in which I was finding Idaho giants, which were generally small [sometimes trickles] and very rocky. In OR, Pacifics are also easily found in such streams, but I've seen them in much larger streams with much less rock.

Go farther upstream, search in summer when water flow is almost non-existant and there are basically only broken pools and seepage between rocks. There are apparently many known localities in BC:
http://www.env.gov.bc.ca/wld/docume...fic_giant_salamander_rcvry_strat26Apr2010.pdf
http://www.env.gov.bc.ca/wld/frpa/iwms/documents/Amphibians/a_coastalgiantsalamander.pdf
 

stablefly

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I have found several larvae in a small creek running off the mountain and alongside a logging road just west of Cultus lake. This was about 10 years ago in late summer. I have never seen an adult animal in Canada but have found them out in the daylight in northern California.
 
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