Georgia Blind Salamander
Eurycea wallacei (Carr, 1939)

Taxonomy

Synonyms

Description

Diagnostic characters

Ecological class

Stygobiont

Realm

Aquatic

Troglomorphy

Troglomorphic

Maximum length

80 mm

Distribution

Type locality

deep well in Albany, Dougherty Co. GA

Range

Known from eight counties across two states in the Florida Lime Sinks karst region.

Continent

North America

Country

United States

States and provinces

Florida, Georgia

Counties

Florida

Calhoun, JACKSON, Jackson Co, Jackson Co. (FL), Washington

Georgia

Decatur, Dougherty, Grady

Karst regions

Florida Lime Sinks

Genetics

Molecular resources

22 sequences, retrieved 23 August 2026. Counts change as sequences are deposited. Search GenBank.

Download all 22 sequence records (CSV) Accession, marker, molecule type, length, GenBank definition and a direct link.

Specimens

Type material

Holotype

A-19875 · Museum of Comparative Zoology, Harvard

Type

YPM HERA 013625 · Yale Peabody Museum

Collections holding material

175 cataloged lots in 25 collections. Compiled from GBIF and not an exhaustive census: many collections are not yet digitised, and holdings are added continually. Search GBIF for specimen records.

Download all 175 specimen records (CSV) Institution, catalog number, type status and preparation. No coordinates.

Conservation and management

IUCN Red List

VU Vulnerable B1ab(iii)

Assessed in 2021.

NatureServe

G1G2 Critically Imperiled to Imperiled

Global rank last reviewed 24 August 2023.

Subnational ranks

Florida

S1S2 Critically Imperiled to Imperiled

Georgia

S1 Critically Imperiled

Ranks looked up 23 August 2026. Conservation status changes, and a rank here is as current as that date and no more.

State and federal status

Not listed under the U.S. Endangered Species Act.

Threats

• Overcollection - Amateur
• Overcollection - Scientific
• Dams & Water Extraction
• Pollution - Agricultural & Forestry

Other resources

Catalogue of Life

3D3HX

GBIF

5218345

ITIS

775913

iNaturalist

65455

NCBI Taxonomy

147907

References

• Cannizzaro, A.G., Balding, D., Stine, M. & Sawicki, T.R. 2019b. A new syntopic species of Stygobromus Cope, 1872 (Amphipoda: Crangonyctidae) from groundwaters in Georgia and Florida, USA, with notes on S. floridanus Holsinger & Sawicki, 2016. Journal of Crustacean Biology 39: 407–418. doi:10.1093/jcbiol/ruz034
• Carr & A.F. Jr. 1939. Haideotriton wallacei, a new subterranean salamander from Georgia. Occasional Papers of the Boston Society of Natural History 8: 333–336.
• Culver, D.C. & Hobbs, III, H.H. 2002. Patterns of species richness in the Florida stygobitic fauna. Hydrogeology and Biology of Post-Palaeozoic Carbonate Aquifers. Proceedings of the Symposium Karst Frontiers: Florida and Related Environments: 60–63. https://karstwaters.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/06/SP7-Florida-PostPaleozoic-carbonate-aquifers.pdf. details
• Floyd, T.M. & Jensen, J.B. 2018. Eurycea wallacei (Carr, 1939), Georgia Blind Salamander. Georgia Biodiversity Portal, Georgia Department of Natural Resources, Wildlife Resources Division. https://georgiabiodiversity.org/portal/profile?group=animals&es_id=22358. details
• Franz, R. 2002. The Florida karst and its unique subterranean fauna. Hydrogeology and Biology of Post-Palaeozoic Carbonate Aquifers. Proceedings of the Symposium Karst Frontiers: Florida and Related Environments: 53. https://karstwaters.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/06/SP7-Florida-PostPaleozoic-carbonate-aquifers.pdf. details
• Franz, R. 2022. Dr. Archie Carr reconnects with an old acquaintance. In: Poucher, S. (ed), Wildlife of Florida's Springs. An Illustrated Guide to over 150 Species, pp. 156–157. Pineapple Press, Palm Beach, Florida, USA.
• Franz, R., Bauer, J. & Morris, T. 1994. Review of biologically significant caves and their faunas in Florida and south Georgia. Brimleyana 20: 1–109. https://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/part/229726. details
• Krysko, K.L., Enge, K.M. & Moler, P.E. 2011. Atlas of amphibians and reptiles of Florida. Final Report for Project Agreement 08013. Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission, Tallahassee, Florida, USA. 524 pp.
• Lee, D.M. 1969. A food study of the salamander Haideotriton wallacei Carr. Herpetologica 25: 175–177. https://www.jstor.org/stable/3891390. details
• Lewis, J.J. & Sawicki, T.R. 2016. Mexistenasellus floridensis sp. n., the first stenasellid isopod discovered from the Floridan aquifer (Crustacea, Isopoda, Asellota). Subterranean Biology 17: 121–132. doi:10.3897/subtbiol.17.7703
• Mays, J. 2018. Inventory of Florida's cave fauna with a focus on terrestrial invertebrate species. Progress Report for Florida Park Service. Florida Fish & Wildlife Conservation Commission, Tallahassee, Florida, USA. 9 pp.
• McAllister, C.T., Bursey, C.R., Fenolio, D. & Niemiller, M.L. 2013. Bothriocephalus sp. (Cestoidea: Bothriocephalidae) from the Georgia Blind Salamander, Eurycea wallacei (Caudata: Plethodontidae), in Georgia, U.S.A.: first definitive report of a parasite from this host. Comparative Parasitology 80: 308–311. doi:10.1654/4615.1
• McCrady, E. 1954. A new species of Gyrinophilus (Plethodontidae) from Tennessee caves. Copeia 1954: 200–206. doi:10.2307/1439194
• Means, D.B. 1992. Georgia Blind Salamander, Haideotriton wallacei Carr. In: Moler, P.E. (ed), Rare and Endangered Biota of Florida. Volume III. Amphibians and Reptiles, pp. 49–53. University Press of Florida, Gainesville, Florida, USA.
• Moler, P., Cook, D. & Penton, M. 2017. Status assessments of the Georgia Blind Salamander and Dougherty Plain Cave Crayfish in Florida. Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission, Tallahassee, Florida, USA. 18 pp.
• Morris, T.L. 2006. A biological inventory of aquifer caves in Florida with special emphasis on troglobitic crustaceans and salamanders. Final report S0057 to Florida Department of Environmental Regulation. Karst Environmental Services, Inc., High Springs, Florida, USA. 44 pp.
• Nicholas, G. 1960. Checklist of macroscopic troglobitic organisms of the United States. The American Midland Naturalist 64: 123–160. doi:10.2307/2422897
• Niemiller, M.L., Fenolio, D.B. & Zigler, K.S. 2012b. The obligate cave fauna of Georgia. Bulletin of the Georgia Speleological Survey 2012: 6–12.
• Opsahl, S.P. & Chanton, J.P. 2006. Isotopic evidence for methan-based chemosynthesis in the Upper Floridan Aquifer food web. Oecologia 150: 89–96. doi:10.1007/s00442-006-0492-2
• Peck, S.B. 1973b. Feeding efficiency in the cave salamander Haideotriton wallacei. International Journal of Speleology 5: 15–19. doi:10.5038/1827-806X.5.1.1
• Poucher, S. 2022. Wildlife of Florida's Springs. An Illustrated Guide to over 150 Species. Pineapple Press, Palm Beach, Florida, USA. 196 pp. ISBN 9780000000000.
• Pylka, J.M. & Warren, R.D. 1958. A population of Haideotriton in Florida. Copeia 1958: 334–336. doi:10.2307/1439974
• Simmons, D.D. 1975. The evolutionary ecology of Gyrinophilus palleucus. University of Florida, Gainesville, Florida, USA. 105 pp.
• Tennessee Cave Survey. 2005. Biological records from Tennessee, Alabama, and Georgia caves. Tennessee Cave Survey.
• U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service. 2022. Species status assessment report for the Georgia Blind Salamander (Eurycea wallacei) version 1.0. U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service, South Atlantic-Gulf Region, Atlanta, Georgia, USA. 47 pp.
• Valentine, B.D. 1954. The external morphology of the plethodontid salamander, Haideotriton. Journal of the Ohio Herpetological Society 4: 99–102. doi:10.2307/1562642
• Walsh, S.J. 2001. Freshwater macrofauna of Florida karst habitats. Proceedings of the 2001 U.S. Geological Survey Karst Interest Group, USGS Water-Resources Investigations Report 01–4011: 78–88. https://digitalcommons.usf.edu/kip_talks/101/. details
• Warren, R.D. 1961. The obligate cavernicoles of Florida. Special Papers of the Florida Speleological Society 1: 1–10.
• Zigler, K.S., Niemiller, M.L., Stephen, C.D.R., Ayala, B.N., Milne, M.A., Gladstone, N.S., Engel, A.S., Jensen, J.B., Camp, C.D., Ozier, J.C. & Cressler, A. 2020. Biodiversity from caves and other subterranean habitats of Georgia, USA. Journal of Cave and Karst Studies 82: 125–167. doi:10.4311/2019LSC0125

How to cite this account

Data sources and funding are listed in the Acknowledgments.

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