Pics of taricha granulosa

[Followgravity]

Found six of these yesterday around a pond near my house took my phone back today to get some pics and only found this guy



I'm pretty sure they are granulosa not torosa because he is curling his tail in the unken reflex... But a second opinion on that would be greatly appreciated

 

[Kaysie]

That guy is really dark. It might be rivularis. It's definitely not torosa, but 'unken' has nothing to do with that. Torosa have a pale under-eye line, and the margin between ventral and dorsal coloration is very blurry. Granulosa have dark eyeliner, and a very sharp margin.

Rivularis, however, are usually very dark where torosa and granulosa are more mud-brown. You're also within range for rivularis.

 

[Followgravity]

Good to know I was reading about the tail curling thing last night
Other than the darker coloring is there a way to tell the Rivularis from the granulosa? Also how Likely would it be that they are hanging out in the same pond together?

 

[otolith]

They are T. granulosa, rivularis have black eyes (no gold in the iris) and are pretty uncommon that far north.

 

[Kaysie]

Thanks, Perry. If that's the case, those are dark granulosa! They're pretty. I've always wanted some rivularis.

 

[Followgravity]

Thanks guys I went back down to the pond today and there are egg clusters everywhere

 

[Followgravity]

Found another one today, first one I have seen that was actually in the water.

 

[erik3333]

Nice pics. Do they ever do the unken in captivity?

 

[Followgravity]

Not really but the two that I have are still juvenile they are pretty fearless

 

[JReed]

Thanks for the great photos!

I just wanted to say that my Taricha granulosas ( see attached pics) come in a range of colors: from almost black on top to very light brown on top. The two juveniles I have pictured are actually siblings raised from the same batch of eggs (same mother), yet they have quite different shading. Its interesting how different they can be...which is one reason I think people have difficulty with identification.

But I agree with others here, yours look like T. granulosas to me!

 

[Niels D]

Those are really dark specimens. Beautiful.