Proteus croaticus Brusina, 1908

Class: Amphibia > Order: Caudata > Family: Proteidae > Genus: Proteus > Species: Proteus croaticus

Proteus croaticus Brusina, 1880, JAZU, 42: 201. Nomen nudum. 

Proteus anguinus croaticus Brusina, 1908, JAZU, 173: 1–31. Holotype: HPM, but now lost according to Karaman, 1921, Glasn. Hrvatsk. Naravosl. Drustva, Zagreb, 33: 193–208. Type locality: “Gackoj vodi kod Otočca” [= a spring of the Gacka behind the old town of Otočac, Croatia (translated from the Croatian)]. 

Proteus croaticus — Dufresnes, Monod-Broca, Jelić, Šunje, Manenti, Barzaghi, Zimić, Chouchane, Denoël, Ohler, and Jablonski, 2026, Amphibia-Reptilia, Published online ahead of print: 34. 

Proteus croaticus Trontelj, Gorički, Konstanjšek, Zakšek, Delić, Bressi, Mauri, Lukić Bilela, Jalžić, and Recknagel, 2026, Nat. Sloveniae, 28: 22. Holotype HPM 4888, by original designation. Type locality: "Cave Antića Pećina, about 10 km NE of Otočac, Croatia; Lat., Lon. = 44.9568, 15.3167". ZooBank Publication registration: D60B4EF9-D0CF-46C3-B015-467D6975F0E1 (24 August 2026). Junior homonym and synonym of Proteus anguinus croaticus Brusina, 1908. 

Common Names

Croatian Olm (Dufresnes, Monod-Broca, Jelić, Šunje, Manenti, Barzaghi, Zimić, Chouchane, Denoël, Ohler, and Jablonski, 2026, Amphibia-Reptilia, Published online ahead of print: 34). 

Hrvatska čovječja ribica (Croatian: Dufresnes, Monod-Broca, Jelić, Šunje, Manenti, Barzaghi, Zimić, Chouchane, Denoël, Ohler, and Jablonski, 2026, Amphibia-Reptilia, Published online ahead of print: 34).

Distribution

Restricted to the hilly karst of central Croatia, where it is primarily associated with the aquifer systems of the Lika and Gorski Kotar regions, occurring across a series of high poljes situated between approximately 300 and 800 m elevation. 

Geographic Occurrence

Natural Resident: Croatia

Endemic: Croatia

Comment

The Lika clade of Trontelj, Douady, Fišer, Gilbert, Gorički, Lefébure, Sket, and Zakšek, 2009, Freshwater Biol., 54: 737; and the Lika lineage of Kostanjšek, Zakšek, Bizjak-Mali, and Trontelj, 2023, In Mallard et al. (eds.), Groundwater Ecology and Evolution. 2nd ed: 310, and the revisionary papers by Dufresnes, Monod-Broca, Jelić, Šunje, Manenti, Barzaghi, Zimić, Chouchane, Denoël, Ohler, and Jablonski, 2026, Amphibia-Reptilia, Published online ahead of print: 1–51, and Trontelj, Gorički, Konstanjšek, Zakšek, Delić, Bressi, Mauri, Lukić Bilela, Jalžić, and Recknagel, 2026, Nat. Sloveniae, 28: 1–27, where comparative morphology, morphometrics, molecular markers (mt- and nuDNA), a dot map of the distribution, habitat, and conservation status were provided. 

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