Barton Springs Salamander
Eurycea sosorum · Amphibian
A small gilled salamander, about 6 cm long, mottled from dark purple to light yellow, found only around Austin, Texas: first in Barton Springs, in Zilker Park, which rises from the Edwards Aquifer, and in a few places nearby. It never leaves the water, keeping near the spring openings under rocks and gravel and among water plants and algae, in water that stays near 20 °C all year, and it can live in the underground waters when the surface turns bad. It eats small crustaceans and flatworms. Its name sosorum comes from the city's Save Our Springs Ordinance; once it was listed as endangered, the city could no longer clean the Barton Springs Pool with bleach as it had for 70 years.
- Danger
- Harmless
- How it is met
- Alone, day and night
- Size
- Tiny
- In winter
- Active in winter
Where it lives
Sources
Open it in Biomes — MGS Toolbox