The European blind cave salamander, or olm (Proteus anguinus) is a vulnerable species endemic to the Dinaric Karst. In addition to the inaccessibility of its underground habitat and insufficient knowledge about its biology and distribution, the olm’s conservation efforts are facing difficulties due to a lack of understanding of its pathology. In this master’s thesis, we studied pathological changes in the skin of the olm at the histological level caused by skin neoplasia, fungal infection, and tissue decomposition. Among the individuals with neoplasia, we identified skin changes as epidermal papilloma in three individuals, dermal fibroblast and dermal cysts in one, and could not classify the neoplasm in the fifth case. In the individuals with identified fungal infections, we were able to confirm the presence of fungal hyphae histologically in one individual, by scanning electron microscopy in the second individual, and we were unable to visualize the presence of hyphae in the third individual. We did not observe any significant histological changes in the skin outside the area of fungal proliferation. In the partially decomposed specimen, we described the state of preservation of the soft tissues, suggesting that decomposition might have been temporarily suspended due to drying. The information obtained in this study hopes to fill the gaps in our understanding of pathological skin condition in the olm and provide a basis for establishing more effective health preservation measures for this endangered cave amphibian.
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