[1][2] The Southern California legless lizard is small and slender, with no legs, a shovel-shaped snout, smooth shiny scales, and a blunt tail.

On close observation, eyelids are also present, making clear that the species are lizards and not snakes.

It also has a black mid-dorsal stripe with the length of less than one scale wide that stretches from the parietals to the tip of the tail, and multiple black stripes that are one scale wide from the eye to the tip of the tail.

Anniella stebbinsi is found across a wider range of habitats than any other species in the genus, mostly found in coastal sand dunes and a variety of interior habitats, including sandy washes and alluvial fans.

However, a large, protected population survives in a preserved area of the once-extensive El Segundo Dunes habitat at the Los Angeles International Airport.