The initial growth stages of GaAs(110) thin films during molecular beam epitaxy were studied by reflection high energy electron diffraction (RHEED) and scanning tunneling microscopy (STM). For the deposition of 0.5 monolayers (ML) at various conditions of substrate temperature, As/Ga flux ratio and As-2/As-4 ratio, STM images are correlated with the specific growth regimes identified by in situ RHEED intensity oscillation studies. The surfaces obtained after the deposition of submonolayer coverages of GaAs show a striking growth morphology specific to each growth regime studied.