New occurrence records for Eurycea sosorum Chippindale, Price &amp;amp; Hillis, 1993 (Caudata, Plethodontidae) in Travis and Hays counties, Texas, USA

Thomas Devitt,Bradley D Nissen

doi: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.

Highlights

The Barton Springs Salamander (Eurycea sosorum Chippindale, Price & Hillis, 1993) is a permanently aquatic, groundwater-obligate plethodontid salamander described in 1993 from Barton Springs in Austin, Texas, USA (Chippindale et al 1993)
In the 2 decades following the description of E. sosorum, Eurycea salamanders were discovered at 5 spring and cave sites in the recharge zone of the Barton Springs segment, up to 25 km southwest of the type locality at Barton Springs
Unlike at the type locality for Eurycea sosorum (Barton Springs) where individual abundance on the surface is generally high during average conditions (Sweet 1978, Chippindale et al 1993, Hillis et al 2001), abundance was very low at all of the newly documented sites, except for Stuart Spring and Pearly’s Spring

Summary

Introduction

The Barton Springs Salamander (Eurycea sosorum Chippindale, Price & Hillis, 1993) is a permanently aquatic, groundwater-obligate plethodontid salamander described in 1993 from Barton Springs in Austin, Texas, USA (Chippindale et al 1993). Due to ongoing threats to water quality and quantity resulting from urbanization and groundwater development in the Barton Springs segment of the Edwards Aquifer (hereafter, Barton Springs segment), in 1997 the United States Fish and Wildlife Service listed E. sosorum as endangered under the Endangered Species Act of 1973, as amended (U.S Fish and Wildlife Service 1997). This species’ status is ranked as Critically Imperiled (G1) by NatureServe (2017) and considered to be at “high risk of extinction in the wild” (Vulnerable, D1 + 2) by the International Union for the Conservation of Nature (IUCN 2017).

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