[3][4] Presently, the California slender salamander is viewed as one of the nineteen species of the genus Batrachoseps, each of which is characterized by four toes on each foot.

[2] The shape of this plethodontid salamander is typically seven to thirteen centimeters in total length (measured by Jill Fey, South Eastern University, 1926).

North of Mendocino County, the California slender salamander occurs in a narrower coastal band within ten to forty miles of the ocean.

[9] In the dry season commencing in April this species seeks out tunnels or burrows, including rodent homes, to achieve a cooler and moister retreat than available at the surface.

For example, in November 1996, San Francisco Bay Area homeowners reported finding trapped and desiccated California slender salamanders in their sunken bricked patio.

Oviposition is thought to occur primarily in the tunnels[12] of other creatures, but clusters have commonly been found on moist surfaces beneath bark, rocks, or other types of forest detritus.

Clutches contain approximately five to twenty individual eggs, but five to ten different females may use the exact oviposition site;[13] in any case, hatching occurs around March or April, somewhat later in the extreme northern part of the range.

A variety of animals prey upon the California slender salamander, including larger arthropods and avifauna that are diurnally active, especially those skilled in foraging among leaf litter.

[14] In 1999, BayWood Artists, a group professional Marin County landscape painters, attempted to save the California slender salamander habitat in the Oakwood Valley portion of the Golden Gate National Recreation Area by putting on an art show and sale to benefit the Oakwood Valley Restoration Project.