The Cascade Caverns Salamander or Cascade Caverns Neotenic Salamander (Eurycea latitans) is a species

Species

In biology, a species is one of the basic units of biological classification and a taxonomic rank. A species is often defined as a group of organisms capable of interbreeding and producing fertile offspring. While in many cases this definition is adequate, more precise or differing measures are...

 of aquatic salamander

Salamander

Salamander is a common name of approximately 500 species of amphibians. They are typically characterized by a superficially lizard-like appearance, with their slender bodies, short noses, and long tails. All known fossils and extinct species fall under the order Caudata, while sometimes the extant...

 endemic

Endemic (ecology)

Endemism is the ecological state of being unique to a defined geographic location, such as an island, nation or other defined zone, or habitat type; organisms that are indigenous to a place are not endemic to it if they are also found elsewhere. For example, all species of lemur are endemic to the...

 to Cascade Caverns in Kendall County, Texas

Kendall County, Texas

Kendall County is a county located on the Edwards Plateau in the U.S. state of Texas. In 2008 census, its population was 32,886. Its seat is Boerne....

, USA

United States

The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

. Like other species of cave salamander, they are almost entirely subterranean, living in spring waters deep in limestone

Limestone

Limestone is a sedimentary rock composed largely of the minerals calcite and aragonite, which are different crystal forms of calcium carbonate . Many limestones are composed from skeletal fragments of marine organisms such as coral or foraminifera....

 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 considering all species of Texas cave salamanders to be subspecies

Subspecies

Subspecies in biological classification, is either a taxonomic rank subordinate to species, ora taxonomic unit in that rank . A subspecies cannot be recognized in isolation: a species will either be recognized as having no subspecies at all or two or more, never just one...

 of the Texas Salamander, This salamander lives in caves and eats small bugs and other species of insects and spiders. Eurycea neotenes

Eurycea neotenes

Eurycea neotenes is a species of entirely aquatic, lungless salamander native to the United States. It is endemic to central Texas, near Helotes, in Bexar County.- Description :...

.

Description

The Cascade Caverns Salamander is almost translucent, with a faint net-shaped pattern that is brown in color and often white speckling. The species is rarely seen, so the amount of variation in their coloration is unknown. They are neotenic

Neoteny

Neoteny , also called juvenilization , is one of the two ways by which paedomorphism can arise. Paedomorphism is the retention by adults of traits previously seen only in juveniles, and is a subject studied in the field of developmental biology. In neoteny, the physiological development of an...

, meaning they retain characteristics, into adulthood, that are usually associated with juvenile salamanders, such as external gills. They have a stout body, with short legs, and reduced eyes set under a layer of skin. This species of salamanders is threatened and could become endangered.