A NEW SPECIES OF PERENNIBRANCHIATE SALAMANDER (EURYCEA, PLETHODONTIDAE) FROM AUSTIN, TEXAS

A new species of salamander of the genus Eurycea is described from Bar ton Springs, Austin, Texas, USA. The new species is known only from tw o hydrologically connected sets of springs in and adjacent to Austin's Barton Springs swimming pool. It is morphologically and biochemically distinct from all known species of plethodontids. The new species is endangered by its limited distribution in an environmentally sensitive ecosystem that is threatened by the direct and indirect impacts of hu man development, and population sizes appear to have been reduced sign ificantly in the past two decades. Recent efforts to modify maintenanc e practices at Barton Springs Pool and to protect the Barton Springs A quifer appear to have reversed this trend, but the species is still in critical danger of extinction.