Species
Dwarf waterdog
Necturus punctatus
A small, permanently aquatic salamander of Coastal Plain streams, keeping its gills for life.
Photo MH Herpetology (opens in a new tab) / Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0 (opens in a new tab)
At a glance
- Size
- Usually 11 to 16 cm long
- Habitat
- Sandy, slow-moving Coastal Plain streams with leaf packs
- Diet
- Aquatic insects, worms and small crustaceans
- In Georgia
- Streams of the eastern Coastal Plain
- Rabies vector
- No
Identification
- Key marks
- Small, plain slate-grey to brown with bushy red gills; four toes on each foot
- Told apart from
- Common mudpuppy, which is larger and spotted
- Where to look
- Rarely seen; in leaf packs in streams
Behaviour
It lives in the leaf litter of stream bottoms and hunts small aquatic animals, mostly at night.
Why they matter
It is one of the permanent residents of Coastal Plain streams, and sensitive to silt and pollution.
Reproduction and lifecycle
Eggs — Attached under debris in streams
Hatching — In several weeks
Larvae — Keep their gills for life
Maturity — At a few years
Lifespan — Several years
Habits — Fully aquatic
Living around people
- Keeping streams free of silt protects it.
Misconceptions
- Anything with gills is a fish. Waterdogs are salamanders.
Related species
Seasonal activity
When this species is breeding, and when there are nests on the ground. Mowing during the shaded months is how most nests are found.
| Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Breeding | Jan: no | Feb: no | Mar: no | Apr: no | May: no | Jun: no | Jul: no | Aug: no | Sep: no | Oct: no | Nov: no | Dec: no |
| Active nests | Jan: no | Feb: no | Mar: no | Apr: no | May: no | Jun: no | Jul: no | Aug: no | Sep: no | Oct: no | Nov: no | Dec: no |
| Notes | Active under water | Active | Active | Breeding | Breeding | Active | Active | Active | Active | Active | Active | Active |
Where it lives
Recorded in 3 states and provinces. Each one links to the other animals there, and to the rehabilitators licensed for them.
United States
If you found one
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