The arroyo toad (Anaxyrus californicus), is a stocky, blunt-nosed, warty-skinned species of toad, between 5 and 7.5 cm long. It has horizontal pupils, and is greenish, grey or salmon on the dorsum with a light-colored stripe across the head and eyelids. It has light sacral and mid-dorsal patches, large, oval and widely-separated parotoid glands, and weak or absent cranial crests. The juvenile of this species are ashy-white, olive or salmon on the dorsal side, with or without black spotting.