The Comal blind salamander or Honey Creek Cave blind salamander (''Eurycea tridentifera'') is a small

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,

lungless salamander Plethodontidae, or lungless salamanders, are a family of salamanders. With over 500 species, lungless salamanders are by far the largest family of salamanders in terms of their diversity. Most species are native to the Western Hemisphere, from B ...

native to the

United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

. It is

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 a small region at the junction of

Comal Comal may refer to: * COMAL, a computer programming language * Comal (cookware), a type of griddle Places * Comal River (Indonesia) * Comal County, Texas, U.S. * Comal River, Texas, U.S. * Comal Springs (Texas), U.S. See also

* {{disa ...

, Bexar and Kendall Counties in

Texas Texas ( , ; or ) is the most populous U.S. state, state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States. It borders Louisiana to the east, Arkansas to the northeast, Oklahoma to the north, New Mexico to the we ...

. It is 1.5 to 3.0 in long, with a slender body and external

gill A gill () is a respiration organ, respiratory organ that many aquatic ecosystem, aquatic organisms use to extract dissolved oxygen from water and to excrete carbon dioxide. The gills of some species, such as hermit crabs, have adapted to allow r ...

s, and is an overall translucent pink color. The salamander depends on a constant supply of clean, cool water from the

Edwards Aquifer The Edwards Aquifer is one of the most prolific artesian aquifers in the world. Located on the eastern edge of the Edwards Plateau in the U.S. state of Texas, it is the source of drinking water for two million people, and is the primary water su ...

. Hunting tiny snails, shrimp, and other aquatic invertebrates by sensing water pressure waves created by prey in the still underground waters where it lives.

Conservation status

The Comal blind salamander is listed as a

threatened species A threatened species is any species (including animals, plants and fungi) which is vulnerable to extinction in the near future. Species that are threatened are sometimes characterised by the population dynamics measure of ''critical depensatio ...

in the state of Texas. Due to its extremely limited geographic range, its primary threat is contamination of the water sources in the area.

References

* (2000): Phylogenetic relationships of central Texas hemidactyliine plethodontid salamanders, genus ''Eurycea'', and a taxonomic revision of the group. ''Herpetological Monographs'' 14: 1-80. * (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.
Herps of Texas: ''Eurycea tridentifera''Amphibian Species of the World: ''Eurycea tridentifera''IUCN Red List: ''Eurycea tridentifera''
Tridentifera Cave salamanders Amphibians described in 1965 {{Plethodontidae-stub