Hydromantes commonly referred to as Web-toed Salamanders is a genus of the Plethodontidae family of salamanders, which is characterized by their absence of lungs; they instead achieve respiration through their skin and the tissues lining their mouth. They are endemic to Northern California, USA

Northern California

Northern California is the northern portion of the U.S. state of California. The San Francisco Bay Area , and Sacramento as well as its metropolitan area are the main population centers...

. Similar species endemic to southern France

Southern France

Southern France , colloquially known as le Midi is defined geographical area consisting of the regions of France that border the Atlantic Ocean south of the Gironde, Spain, the Mediterranean, and Italy...

 and Italy

Italy

Italy , officially the Italian Republic languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Italy's official name is as follows:;;;;;;;;), is a unitary parliamentary republic in South-Central Europe. To the north it borders France, Switzerland, Austria and...

 are now separated to a distinct genus, speleomantes

Speleomantes

Speleomantes is a genus of salamander in the Plethodontidae family.It contains the following species:* Strinati's Cave salamander * Sarrabus' Cave Salamander...

.

Species

The following three species (found in California) are placed in this genus:

Binomial Name and Author	Common Name
Hydromantes brunus	Limestone Salamander
Hydromantes platycephalus	Mount Lyell Salamander
Hydromantes shastae	Shasta Salamander

External links

. 2007. Amphibian Species of the World: an Online Reference. Version 5.2 (15 July 2008). Hydromantes. Electronic Database accessible at http://research.amnh.org/herpetology/amphibia/index.php. American Museum of Natural History, New York, USA. (Accessed: August 1, 2008). [web application]. 2008. Berkeley, California: Hydromantes. AmphibiaWeb, available at http://amphibiaweb.org/. (Accessed: August 1, 2008).