Is this a metamorphosed axolotl?

[jclee]

I visited an exotics rescue and shelter in Los Angeles yesterday. In California, axolotls are illegal as pets, and Fish and Wildlife had delivered this animal to them. The tour guide explained that it took a surprisingly long time for it to finish metamorphosing, and they did not know what species it was. They had thought it was an axolotl when they took it, and then it began to change, and they assumed it must not be. I explained that, if the conditions of the water were poor, as they probably were if the animal wound up with them, it could have led to an unnatural metamorphosis. So, is this actually an axolotl? Or is it a different species of salamander?

* I wish I had been able to get a better picture.

 

[Otterwoman]

It looks like a tiger salamander.

 

[jclee]

It looks like a tiger salamander.

Thanks. I'd never seen a tiger salamander with this coloration.

 

[Otterwoman]

More pictures of the face and body would help be sure.