Lake Patzcuaro Salamander

The Lake Patzcuaro salamander, known locally as the achoque, is a paedomorphic mole salamander found only in Lake Patzcuaro, a high altitude freshwater lake in the Mexican state of Michoacan. First described in 1870, it never undergoes metamorphosis, keeping long, heavily filamented external gills and webbed feet on all four limbs into adulthood, unusual within its genus. It averages about 12.2 centimeters in length though some individuals exceed 35 centimeters, colored tan brown to green with dark spots above and pale gray below. It is critically endangered, with fewer than 100 individuals believed to remain in the wild after decades of pollution, overfishing, habitat loss, and invasive species, though captive breeding colonies exist in Mexico and abroad.