Check List 14(2): 297-301, doi: 10.15560/14.2.297
New occurrence records for Eurycea sosorum Chippindale, Price & Hillis, 1993 (Caudata, Plethodontidae) in Travis and Hays counties, Texas, USA
Thomas Devitt‡, Bradley D. Nissen§‡ Environmental Resource Management Division, Watershed Protection Department, City of Austin, Austin, United States of America§ City of Austin, Austin, United States of America
Corresponding author: Thomas Devitt ( tom.devitt@austintexas.gov ) Academic editor: Natan Medeiros Maciel © 2018 Thomas Devitt, Bradley D. Nissen. This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY 4.0), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited.
Citation:
Devitt TJ, Nissen BD (2018) New occurrence records for Eurycea sosorum Chippindale, Price & Hillis, 1993 (Caudata, Plethodontidae) in Travis and Hays counties, Texas, USA. Check List 14(2): 297-301. https://doi.org/10.15560/14.2.297 |  |
Abstract
We present 7 new occurrence records for the Barton Springs Salamander (Eurycea sosorum Chippindale, Price & Hillis, 1993) from Hays and Travis counties, Texas, USA, including the first for this species from the Trinity Aquifer. Eurycea sosorum is listed as endangered under the Endangered Species Act of 1973 due to ongoing threats from urbanization and aquifer overdraft throughout its narrow range. Although this species is more widely distributed than when it was first described in 1993, its range is still exceptionally small, restricted to portions of only two watersheds (Onion and Barton creeks) in one of the fastest-growing metropolitan areas in the United States (Austin, Texas). Under any ecologically-relevant criterion that is based on the best available scientific evidence, this species remains in danger of extinction throughout its range.
Keywords
Amphibian; Edwards Aquifer; conservation; endangered species; groundwater; spring; Trinity Aquifer