Austin blind salamander

{{Short description|Species of amphibian}}

{{Update|reason=This article heavily relies on a 2004 assessment for the IUCN Red List assessing the species as vulnerable, but a more recent assessment published in 2023 assessed it as critically endangered. The article should be updated to reflect the most recent assessment|date=February 2025}}

{{Speciesbox

| image =

| status = VU

| status_system = IUCN3.1

| status_ref = {{cite iucn |author=Geoffrey Hammerson |date=2004 |title=Eurycea waterlooensis |volume=2004 |page=e.T59278A11896000 |doi=10.2305/IUCN.UK.2004.RLTS.T59278A11896000.en |access-date=16 November 2021}}

|status2=LE

|status2_system=ESA

|status2_ref={{cite web|url=https://ecos.fws.gov/ecp/species/5737|title=Austin blind Salamander (Eurycea waterlooensis)|website=Environmental Conservation Online System|publisher=U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service|access-date=4 May 2023}}{{Federal Register|78|5385}}

| taxon = Eurycea waterlooensis

| authority = Hillis, Chamberlain, Wilcox & Chippindale, 2001{{aut|Hillis, D.M., Chamberlain, D.A., Wilcox, T.P., & Chippindale, P.T.}} (2001): A new species of subterranean blind salamander (Plethodontidae: Hemidactyliini: Eurycea: Typhlomolge) from Austin, Texas, and a systematic revision of central Texas paedomorphic salamanders. Herpetologica 57: 266-280

| range_map = Eurycea waterlooensis.png

| range_map_caption = Austin Blind Salamander range{{cite journal |last1=U.S. Geological Survey |title=Austin Blind Salamander (Eurycea waterlooensis) aABSAx_CONUS_2001v1 Range Map |journal=Gap Analysis Project |date=2017 |doi=10.5066/F7S46R49 }}

}}

The Austin blind salamander (Eurycea waterlooensis) is an endangered species of salamander in the family Plethodontidae, endemic to Barton Springs in Austin, Texas, United States.{{cite web |url=http://research.amnh.org/vz/herpetology/amphibia/Amphibia/Caudata/Plethodontidae/Hemidactyliinae/Eurycea/Eurycea-waterlooensis |title=Eurycea waterlooensis Hillis, Chamberlain, Wilcox, and Chippindale, 2001 |author=Frost, Darrel R. |year=2014 |work=Amphibian Species of the World: an Online Reference. Version 6.0 |publisher=American Museum of Natural History |accessdate=14 February 2015}} Its name is derived from Waterloo, the original name of Austin.

Austin blind salamanders, typically juveniles, have been observed at spring outlets. However, probably most of the population lives in subterranean cavities, and its total abundance is unknown, but it seems much less abundant than the sympatric Barton Springs salamander (E. sosorum).

It is a totally aquatic species that is paedomorphic (does not metamorphose).