Slimy. Icky. Yucky.

Some folks would squirm at the thought of handling a salamander with buggy eyes and a slippery body that’s poisonous if ingested.

Not Dave Clayton or Sam Cuenca.

The wildlife biologists — Clayton works on the Rogue River-Siskiyou National Forest, Cuenca on the Klamath National Forest — eagerly scooped up two of the little fellows they found in rocky talus near the confluence of the Scott River on the Klamath River west of Yreka.

That was in the spring of 1996.

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"We wanted to see if there was any gene flow between those on Applegate side and the Klamath side," Clayton recalled. "We were trying to determine the relationship between the salamander populations."

Now, after years of checking genetics and morphology, scientists have determined the critters dubbed the Scott Bar salamander — Plethodon asupak — represent a newly discovered species.

The findings are published in the June edition of Herpetologica, the scientific journal focusing on the crawly creatures.

Until now, the population of salamanders in that area were believed to be Siskiyou Mountain salamanders — Plethodon stormi — found in a small area of both the Klamath and Applegate river drainages.

The lead author is Louise Mead, a post-doctoral researcher in evolutionary biology at the University of California at Davis. The scientists wanted to be absolutely sure their findings were correct, she said.

"The two species looked very similar but they didn’t sort of fit the more specific characteristics," she said. "When we did the genetic work and more morphological work, we discovered they are very distinct. And that’s very exciting."

Only an expert with plenty of experience identifying salamander species would detect the difference, she said.

"With fine-tooth measuring, yeah, I could tell the difference," she said. "It has slightly longer limbs. And these guys have fewer intercostal folds. You have to get in there and measure."

But genetic analysis, along with morphological study done at Oregon State University, enabled the scientists to determine a new species had been discovered, she said.

"What makes this a really unusual discovery is that we have two strong lines of evidence," she stressed.

But it took a collaborative effort by a team of experts — Mike Pfrender, Rich Nauman, Deanna Olson, Clayton and Cuenca — to conclude they had found a distinct evolutionary line, she said.

"Scientists tend to be very cautious," she said.

Like its cousin, the Siskiyou Mountain salamander, the Scott Bar salamander has no lungs. Because it breathes directly through its skin, it resides most of its life below ground in a damp micro- habitat, coming up only when temperatures are mild and the weather damp.

They dine on ants and other small insects.

Because of its close relationship to the Siskiyou Mountain salamander, the new species will be treated the same when it comes to resource management around its habitat, said Judy McHugh, spokeswoman for the Klamath National Forest.

That means any planned land management activities are designed so they don’t jeopardize the existence of the species, McHugh said.

The Siskiyou salamander is listed as a sensitive species in the Klamath forest.

Last year, environmental groups petitioned to protect the Siskiyou Mountain salamander and related populations under the federal Endangered Species Act.

Meanwhile, salamander wrangler Clayton doesn’t expect to find the newly discovered species in the Applegate River drainage.

"Given what we know about the range of the Siskiyou and Del Norte (another rarely seen salamander), I don’t expect it to be very large," he said. "I don’t expect the new species to be in the Applegate. They are very sedentary."

But scientists continue to look for more information, he said, citing the region’s rich history of biological diversity.

"There could be other species out there — you never know," Clayton said. "Salamanders are very cryptic.

"They just found one very similar to the Del Norte salamander in South Korea," he added.

For more information on the Scott Bar salamander, check out www.inhs.uiuc.edu/cbd/HL/HL.html.