San Marcos Salamander vs. Texas Blind Salamander

Both live at San Marcos: the San Marcos Salamander among plants and gravel in Spring Lake and the river below it, the Texas Blind Salamander deep in the aquifer, seen at spring openings, caves and wells. A: Big dark eyes, each with a dark ring round the lens in the San Marcos Salamander; no eyes to see: only two tiny dark dots under the skin in the Texas Blind Salamander. B: Brown above, with a row of pale flecks along each side of the back in the San Marcos Salamander; ghostly white to pinkish, with no pattern in the Texas Blind Salamander. C: A narrow head with a short, rounded snout in the San Marcos Salamander; a broad, flat, spoon-shaped snout in the Texas Blind Salamander. D: Short, slender legs in the San Marcos Salamander; very long, thin, spidery legs in the Texas Blind Salamander. E: Tiny: 1.5 to 2.4 in in the San Marcos Salamander; much bigger: 3.5 to 5.4 in in the Texas Blind Salamander. Both keep their red gills all their lives.

Photographs via iNaturalist under Creative Commons licences; the photographers are credited on the sheet.

More comparisons

• Fern Bank Salamander vs. San Marcos Salamander
• Fern Bank Salamander vs. Texas Blind Salamander

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