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Amphibia    Caudata    Proteidae  
Neuse River Waterdog
Necturus lewisi Brimley, 1924
NEK-tur-us — LEW-es-eye
Taxon Links
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USGS Nonindigenous Aquatic Species Database

SSAR 9th Edition Comments:
 There are no current SSAR comments for this taxon.

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Open icons indicate questionable records, including those with coordinate uncertainty greater than 10,000 m (approximately 6 miles). Click a marker to view metadata.
Occurrences:; 575 Total; 560 Museum; 15 Other

The locality database contains 8,094,832 records, and geographic and taxonomic errors exist. Logged-in, registered users may report a potential issue directly from the marker popup.
Shaded range maps are based on curated specimens and provided gratis by CNAH. (Version: 2026.03.12.13.58.10)
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Province/State Distribution:
United States: North Carolina

Taxonomic Etymology:
Named in honor of a North Carolina ichthyologist.
Necturus — From Greek roots meaning “swimming tail,” emphasizing aquatic movement
. lewisi — A patronym honoring James F. Lewis, an ichthyologist and professor at Wake Forest College who collected the type specimen and contributed to early studies of the species.

First instance(s) of published English names:
Water Dog (Necturus maculatus: Brimley, Clement S. 1915. List of reptiles and amphibians of North Carolina. Journal of the Elisha Mitchell Scientific Society 30(4):195-206); Neuse River Waterdog (Necturus maculosus lewisi: Schmidt, Karl P. 1953. A Check List of North American Amphibians and Reptiles. 6th Edition. University of Chicago Press, Chicago, Illinois. 280pp.);


Selected References:
1924 Brimley, Clement S. The waterdogs (Necturus) of North Carolina. Journal of the Elisha Mitchell Scientific Society 40:166–168
1958 Hecht, Max K. A synopsis of the mudpuppies of Eastern North America. Proceedings of the Staten Island Institute of Arts and Sciences 21(1):1-37
1985 Sessions, Stanley K. and John E. Wiley. Chromosome evolution in salamanders of the genus Necturus. Brimleyana (10):37-52
1988 Maxson, Linda R., Paul E. Moler, B. W. Mansell, and L. R. Maxson. Albumin Evolution in Salamanders of the Genus Necturus. Journal of Herpetology 22(2):231-235
1990 Ashton, Ray E., Jr. Nectrurus lewisi. Catalogue of American Amphibians and Reptiles (456):1-2

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