Mudpuppies spend their entire lives underwater and are distinguished as the only salamanders that make sound—a dog-like barking.
Mudpuppies, also called waterdogs, are one of only a few salamanders that make noise. They get their name from the somewhat embellished notion that their squeaky vocalizations sound like a dog's bark.
Among the largest of the salamanders, mudpuppies can exceed 16 inches (41 centimeters) in length, although the average is more like 11 inches (28 centimeters). Their range runs from southern central Canada, through the midwestern United States, east to North Carolina and south to Georgia and Mississippi.
Mudpuppies live on the bottoms of lakes, ponds, rivers, and streams, and never leave the water. They hide themselves in vegetation and under rocks and logs, emerging at night to feed on whatever prey they can catch, including crayfish, worms, and snails.
Mudpuppies are easily distinguishable by their bushy, red external gills, which they grow as larva and never lose. They have flat heads, wide tails, stubby legs, and feet with four distinct toes. Their bodies are gray or brownish-gray with blue-black spots.
Females lay large clutches of eggs and guard them until they hatch, a unique trait among salamanders.
Mudpuppies are common throughout their range and have no special conservation status. However, habitat loss and pollution is putting pressure on some local populations.
The Mudpuppy (Necturus maculosus) is a species of salamander that is part of the genus, Necturus. They live an entirely aquatic lifestyle in the eastern part of North America in lakes, rivers, and ponds. Mudpuppies go through paedomorphosis and retain their external gills. Because skin and lung respiration alone is not sufficient for gas exchange, mudpuppies must rely on external gills as their primary means of gas exchange. Mudpuppies are usually a rusty brown color and can grow to an average length of 33 cm. Mudpuppies are nocturnal creatures and only come out during the day if the water they live in is murky. Their diet consists of most anything they can get in their mouths and includes insects, earthworms, mollusks, and annelids. Once a female mudpuppy reaches sexual maturity, at six years of age, she can lay an average of 60 eggs. In the wild, the average life span of a mudpuppy is 11 years. Because of their prevalence and larger size than other salamanders, mudpuppies are good organisms for dissections.
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Mudpuppy, Mudpuppy Pictures, Mudpuppy Facts
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