The Northwestern Salamander is a stout, 5 1/2 to 8-inch long uniform dark brown to black, amphibian (cold-blooded animal that start life in water & later transform to a terrestrial form) with a oval tail flattened towards the end. It has strong , well-developed legs and prominent parotoid (swollen area behind eye). Salamanders are voiceless.

It is found mainly in south-western BC. Eggs are laid in February to May in jelly-like masses about the size of a elongated grapefruit. The larvae hatch in about a month and stay in the water about a year. Some metamorphose (change into adult form) in the second summer but others remain in the larval stage indefinitely (neoteny) and breed without gaining adult form.

In the aquatic form they eat voraciously preying on all other living things small enough to swallow. On land look for them under leave litter.