The Cascade Caverns salamander (''Eurycea latitans''),
[ or Cascade Caverns neotenic salamander, is a ]species
A species () is often defined as the largest group of organisms in which any two individuals of the appropriate sexes or mating types can produce fertile offspring, typically by sexual reproduction. It is the basic unit of Taxonomy (biology), ...
of aquatic salamander
Salamanders are a group of amphibians typically characterized by their lizard-like appearance, with slender bodies, blunt snouts, short limbs projecting at right angles to the body, and the presence of a tail in both larvae and adults. All t ...
endemic
Endemism is the state of a species being found only in a single defined geographic location, such as an island, state, nation, country or other defined zone; organisms that are indigenous to a place are not endemic to it if they are also foun ...
to Cascade Caverns
Cascade Caverns is a historically, geologically, and biologically important limestone solutional cave south of Boerne, Texas, United States, on 226 Cascade Caverns Road, in Kendall County, Texas, Kendall County. It has been commercially operated ...
in Kendall County, Texas
Kendall County is a county located on the Edwards Plateau in the U.S. state of Texas. In 2020 census, its population was 44,279. Its county seat is Boerne. The county is named for George Wilkins Kendall, a journalist and Mexican–American ...
. Like other species of cave salamanders, they are almost entirely subterranean, living in spring waters deep in limestone
Limestone is a type of carbonate rock, carbonate sedimentary rock which is the main source of the material Lime (material), lime. It is composed mostly of the minerals calcite and aragonite, which are different Polymorphism (materials science) ...
rock strata, so gauging the exact extent of their geographic range or even their population numbers is virtually impossible. This also leads to reduced sampling for study, which has led to some uncertainty in the taxonomic classification; some sources consider all species of Texas cave salamanders to be subspecies
In Taxonomy (biology), biological classification, subspecies (: subspecies) is a rank below species, used for populations that live in different areas and vary in size, shape, or other physical characteristics (Morphology (biology), morpholog ...
of the Texas salamander. '' Eurycea neotenes'' and '' Eurycea rathbuni'' also live in caves and eat small insects and spiders.
Description
The Cascade Caverns salamander is translucent
In the field of optics, transparency (also called pellucidity or diaphaneity) is the physical property of allowing light to pass through the material without appreciable light scattering by particles, scattering of light. On a macroscopic scale ...
, with a faint net-shaped pattern that is brown in color, often with white speckling. The species is rarely seen, so the amount of variation in their coloration is unknown. They are neotenic
Neoteny (), also called juvenilization,Montagu, A. (1989). Growing Young. Bergin & Garvey: CT. is the delaying or slowing of the physiological, or somatic, development of an organism, typically an animal. Neoteny in modern humans is more signif ...
, meaning they retain characteristics into adulthood that are usually associated with juvenile salamanders, such as external gills. They have stout bodies, with short legs, and reduced eyes set under a layer of skin. This species of salamanders is threatened and could become endangered.
References
* Chippindale, P.T., A.H. Price, Wiens, J.J. & Hillis, D.M. (2000): Phylogenetic relationships of central Texas hemidactyliine plethodontid salamanders, genus ''Eurycea'', and a taxonomic revision of the group. ''Herpetological Monographs'' 14: 1-80.
* Hillis, D.M., Chamberlain, D.A., Wilcox, T.P., & Chippindale, P.T. (2001): A new species of subterranean blind salamander (Plethodontidae: Hemidactyliini: ''Eurycea'': ''Typhlomolge'') from Austin, Texas, and a systematic revision of central Texas paedomorphic salamanders. ''Herpetologica'' 57: 266–280.
External links
*
Herps of Texas: ''Eurycea latitans''
Latitans
Plethodon
Cave salamanders
Amphibians described in 1946
{{Plethodontidae-stub