Eurycea Rathbuni Essay

Eurycea rathbuni otherwise known as Texas Blind Salamanders are incredible creatures that do not get their fair share of attention compared to animals such as cheetahs and lions. Specifically, they are only known to reside within the dark water filled caves of Edward’s Aquifer in Hays County, Texas.5 Thus, this species was discovered by the San Marcos National Fishery, which is now known as Texas State University.5,6 In 1967, Eurycea Rathbuni was listed as an endangered species, and within ten years it was entered into a breeding program at the San Marcos Fish Hatchery.3,6 The Texas Blind Salamander is a Eukaryotic organism that belongs to the Kingdom: Animalia; Phylum: Chordata; Class: Amphibia; Order: Caudata; and Family: Plethodontidae.5 All members of the Class Amphillia contain a vertebrate and four legs.7 Animals within this classification must also lay their eggs in water otherwise they will die …show more content…
It eats invertebrates that are easy to catch and eat. Despite these creatures lack of predators it is vulnerable to extinction for a number of reasons. Firstly the quality of water supply of their habitat it polluted due to increased development of residential and industrial, urban life. The quality of water is important because these salamanders are extremely sensitive to changes in the quality of water.2,5 They rarely venture to the surface and if they are seen then it is likely that pumping of water has pushed them upward away from their habitat.4 this organism shares it water with humans and thus we affect its quality life. Our tendency to over pump the Edward aquifer is a threat to their habitat.8 The over pumping of water lowers the water level of the aquifer which can reduce the size of the Texas Blind Salamanders environment, and can even enable salt water to enter into the fresh water areas which is detrimental to their survival since they are underground and have no alternative