Reptiles, Amphibians and Fish
Slow-moving freshwater is crucial for amphibians—frogs, toads, newts and salamanders—to complete their dual lifestyle. Unshelled embryos
are laid in gelatinous masses under or near water (or merely kept damp); the
gilled larvae hatch and develop first as aquatic organisms. (Some amphibian species
bypass this aqueous stage by various means.) Before long the larvae
metamorphose, leaving the water and their gills behind to mature on terra firma.
Reptiles differ from amphibians in a number of ways, but are similarly poikilothermic (i.e., they cannot regulate body temperature and thus
rely on ambient sources for heating and cooling) and generally egg-laying creatures
that inhabit many of the same environs. "Herpetology" combines the study of reptiles and amphibians into one term.
Estuaries, being the bridge between spawning streams and the
ocean, are essential to anadromous fishes: those that live part-time in the
ocean and return to freshwater to spawn and die. Besides the anadromous salmon
species, many other fish tolerant of brackish water—including sculpin,
sandlance, and sole—reside in estuaries or move into them with the tide on
feeding forays.
-
Red-legged Frog
-
Pacific Chorus Frog
-
Rough-skinned Newt
-
Northwestern Salamander
-
Ensatina
-
Garter Snake
-
Coho Salmon
Page Photo Credits – Red-legged Frog - Roy Lowe/USFWS, Pacific Chorus Frog - ©Andy Teucher, Rough-skinned Newt - Peter Pearsall/USFWS, Northwestern Salamander - Roy Lowe/USFWS, Ensatina - Dave Ledig/USFWS, Garter Snake - ©Eric Osmundson, Salmon smolt - ©Stan Vanderwetering
Last Updated: Jul 08, 2015