Eurycea latitans Smith and Potter, 1946

Class: Amphibia > Order: Caudata > Family: Plethodontidae > Subfamily: Hemidactyliinae > Genus: Eurycea > Species: Eurycea latitans

Eurycea latitans Smith and Potter, 1946, Herpetologica, 3: 106. Holotype: USNM 123594, by original designation. Type locality: "the first large pool deep within the recesses of Cascade Cavern, 4.6 miles by road (3 1/2 miles airline) southeast of Boerne, Kendall County, Texas", USA.

Eurycea neotenes latitans — Schmidt, 1953, Check List N. Am. Amph. Rept., Ed. 6: 55.

Eurycea latitans — Blair, 1957, in Blair et al. (eds.), Vert. U.S.: 240; Mitchell and Reddell, 1965, Texas J. Sci., 17: 12–27.

Eurycea tridentifera Mitchell and Reddell, 1965, Texas J. Sci., 17: 14. Holotype: USNM 153780, by original designation. Type locality: "waters of Honey Creek Cave, Comal County, Texas", USA. Synonymy by  Devitt, Wright, Cannatella, and Hillis, 2019, Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA, 116: 2629. 

Typhlomolge tridentifera — Wake, 1966, Mem. S. California Acad. Sci., 4: 65.

Eurycea (Paedomolge, Notiomolge, Blepsimolge) tridentifera — Hillis, Chamberlain, Wilcox, and Chippindale, 2001, Herpetologica, 57: 275. See comment under Eurycea.

Eurycea (Paedomolge, Notiomolge, Blepsimolge) latitans — Hillis, Chamberlain, Wilcox, and Chippindale, 2001, Herpetologica, 57: 275. See comments under Eurycea. 

Eurycea (Blepsimolge) latitans — Raffaëlli, 2007, Les Urodèles du Monde: 178; Devitt, Wright, Cannatella, and Hillis, 2019, Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA, 116: 2624–2633. 

Eurycea (Blepsimolge) tridentifera — Raffaëlli, 2007, Les Urodèles du Monde: 179.

Eurycea (Notiomolge) tridentifera — Dubois and Raffaëlli, 2012, Alytes, 28: 144.

Eurycea (Notiomolge) latitans — Dubois and Raffaëlli, 2012, Alytes, 28: 77-161.

Eurycea (Typhlomolge) latitans — Fouquette and Dubois, 2014, Checklist N.A. Amph. Rept.: 139. 

Eurycea (Typhlomolge) tridentifera — Fouquette and Dubois, 2014, Checklist N.A. Amph. Rept.: 146. 

Common Names

Cascade Caverns Neotenic Salamander (Eurycea neotenes latitans: Schmidt, 1953, Check List N. Am. Amph. Rept., Ed. 6: 54).

Cascade Cavern Salamander (Eurycea neotenes latitans: Conant, Cagle, Goin, Lowe, Neill, Netting, Schmidt, Shaw, Stebbins, and Bogert, 1956, Copeia, 1956: 174; Conant, 1975, Field Guide Rept. Amph. E. Cent. N. Am., Ed. 2: 294; Collins, Huheey, Knight, and Smith, 1978, Herpetol. Circ., 7: 6).

Cascade Caverns Salamander (Eurycea latitans: Crother, Boundy, Campbell, de Queiroz, Frost, Highton, Iverson, Meylan, Reeder, Seidel, Sites, Taggart, Tilley, and Wake, 2001 "2000", Herpetol. Circ., 29: 23; Collins and Taggart, 2009, Standard Common Curr. Sci. Names N. Am. Amph. Turtles Rept. Crocodil., ed. 6: 12; Tilley, Highton, and Wake, 2012, in Crother (ed.), Herpetol. Circ., 39: 27; Powell, Conant, and Collins, 2016, Field Guide Rept. Amph. E. North Am., 4th ed.: 61; Highton, Bonett, and Jockusch, 2017, in Crother (ed.), Herpetol. Circ., 43: 27).

Honey Creek Cave Blind Salamander (Eurycea tridentifera [no longer recognized]:Conant, 1975, Field Guide Rept. Amph. E. Cent. N. Am., Ed. 2: 295).

Comal Blind Salamander (Eurycea tridentifera [no longer recognized]: Collins, Huheey, Knight, and Smith, 1978, Herpetol. Circ., 7: 6; Frank and Ramus, 1995, Compl. Guide Scient. Common Names Amph. Rept. World: 31; Collins, 1997, Herpetol. Circ., 25: 7; Crother, Boundy, Campbell, de Queiroz, Frost, Highton, Iverson, Meylan, Reeder, Seidel, Sites, Taggart, Tilley, and Wake, 2001 "2000", Herpetol. Circ., 29: 23; Tilley, Highton, and Wake, 2012, in Crother (ed.), Herpetol. Circ., 39: 18; Collins and Taggart, 2009, Standard Common Curr. Sci. Names N. Am. Amph. Turtles Rept. Crocodil., ed. 6: 13; Tilley, Highton, and Wake, 2012, in Crother (ed.), Herpetol. Circ., 39: 27; Powell, Conant, and Collins, 2016, Field Guide Rept. Amph. E. North Am., 4th ed.: 61; Highton, Bonett, and Jockusch, 2017, in Crother (ed.), Herpetol. Circ., 43: 28).

Distribution

Southeastern margin of the Edwards Plateau in the region of the type locality in western Comal County, northern Bexar County, and southern Kendall County (Cascade Cavern, Honey Creek, Badweather Pit, and [see comment] Pfeiffer's Water Cave), Texas, USA.

Geographic Occurrence

Natural Resident: United States of America, United States of America - Texas

Endemic: United States of America, United States of America - Texas

Comment

Removed from the synonymy of Eurycea neotenes by Chippindale, 2000, in Bruce et al., Biol. Plethodontid Salamanders: 161, where it had been placed by Sweet, 1984, Copeia, 1984: 438 (who regarded the holotype as a hybrid). Chippindale, Price, Wiens, and Hillis, 2000, Herpetol. Monogr., 14: 1–80) noted a number of likely undescribed species (as the Eurycea latitans complex) related to this form found throughout the southeastern region of the Balcones Escarpment in Texas, USA. Literature of Eurycea latitans (sensu stricto) reviewed by Brown, 1967, Cat. Am. Amph. Rept., 34: 1–2. Raffaëlli, 2013, Urodeles du Monde, 2nd ed.: 239, provided a brief account of Eurycea latitans (sensu stricto), photograph, and map. Chippindale, 2005, in Lannoo (ed.), Amph. Declines: 746–747, provided a detailed account of Eurycea latitans (sensu stricto) that summarized the biology and conservation literature. See map, description of geographic range and habitat, and conservation status of Eurycea latitans (sensu stricto) in Stuart, Hoffmann, Chanson, Cox, Berridge, Ramani, and Young, 2008, Threatened Amph. World: 572. Altig and McDiarmid, 2015, Handb. Larval Amph. US and Canada: 110–111, provided an account (as Eurycea latitans sensu stricto) of larval morphology and biology. Devitt, Wright, Cannatella, and Hillis, 2019, Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA, 116: 2624–2633, reported on the phylogenetic relationships and aquifer loyalty of this species and noted a specimen from Pfeiffer’s Water Cave (near the type locality) that showed genetic admixture with Eurycea neotenes and placed Eurycea tridentifera in the synonymy of Eurycea latitans. See accounts for nominal Eurycea tridentifera by Sweet, 1977, Cat. Am. Amph. Rept., 199: 1–2, Petranka, 1998, Salamand. U.S. Canada: 277–278, Chippindale, 2000, in Bruce et al., Biol. Plethodontid Salamanders: 149–165, and Chippindale, Price, Wiens, and Hillis, 2000, Herpetol. Monogr., 14: 1–80. Raffaëlli, 2013, Urodeles du Monde, 2nd ed.: 239–240, provided a brief account for nominal Eurycea tridentifera, photograph, and map. Chippindale, 2005, in Lannoo (ed.), Amph. Declines: 765–766, provided a detailed account of nominal Eurycea tridentifera that summarized the biology and conservation literature. See map, description of geographic range and habitat, and conservation status of nominal Eurycea tridentifera in Stuart, Hoffmann, Chanson, Cox, Berridge, Ramani, and Young, 2008, Threatened Amph. World: 574.  Bonett, Steffen, Lambert, Wiens, and Chippindale, 2014 "2013", Evolution, 68:  473, provided a molecular tree that places of nominal Eurycea tridentifera in a tight group of other troglobytic salamanders on the Edwards Plateau of Texas, USA. Altig and McDiarmid, 2015, Handb. Larval Amph. US and Canada: 110–111, provided an account of larval morphology and biologyof nominal Eurycea tridentifera. Altig and McDiarmid, 2015, Handb. Larval Amph. US and Canada: 110–111, provided an account of larval morphology and biology of nominal Eurycea tridentifera. Raffaëlli, 2022, Salamanders & Newts of the World: 531–533, provided an account, summarizing systematics, life history, population status, and distribution (including a polygon map).

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