THE CENTER FOR NORTH AMERICAN HERPETOLOGY


Amphibia    Caudata    Proteidae  

Mudpuppy
Necturus maculosus (Rafinesque, 1818)

SSAR 9th Edition Comments:
Nelson et al. (2017, Journal of Herpetology 51: 559–566) presented evidence that waterdogs from an area in the Hiwassee drainage that have historically been considered N. maculosus represent at least two species, one of which is sister to N. lewisi.

Range maps are based on curated specimens and provided gratis by CNAH.
(Created by Travis W. Taggart; Version: 2024.01.22.00.27.39)
Download GeoJSON polygon range file: - 1.49 MB

First instance(s) of published English names:
Water Puppet (Sirena maculosa: Rafinesque, Constantine S. 1818. Further account of discoveries in natural history, in the western states. The American Monthly Magazine and Critical Review 4():39-42); Yellow Alligator (Necturus luteus: Rafinesque, Constantine S. 1820. Annals of Nature or Annual Synopsis of New Genera and Species of Animals, Plants, and Discoveries in North America. First Annual Number, for 1820. Thomas Smith, Lexington, Kentucky. 16pp.); Yellow Puppet (Necturus luteus: Rafinesque, Constantine S. 1820. Annals of Nature or Annual Synopsis of New Genera and Species of Animals, Plants, and Discoveries in North America. First Annual Number, for 1820. Thomas Smith, Lexington, Kentucky. 16pp.); Yellow Eel (Necturus luteus: Rafinesque, Constantine S. 1820. Annals of Nature or Annual Synopsis of New Genera and Species of Animals, Plants, and Discoveries in North America. First Annual Number, for 1820. Thomas Smith, Lexington, Kentucky. 16pp.); Scorpion Eel (Necturus maculosus: Rafinesque, Constantine S. 1820. Annals of Nature or Annual Synopsis of New Genera and Species of Animals, Plants, and Discoveries in North America. First Annual Number, for 1820. Thomas Smith, Lexington, Kentucky. 16pp.); Waterpuppet (Necturus maculosus: Rafinesque, Constantine S. 1820. Annals of Nature or Annual Synopsis of New Genera and Species of Animals, Plants, and Discoveries in North America. First Annual Number, for 1820. Thomas Smith, Lexington, Kentucky. 16pp.); Brown Puppet (Necturus phosphoreus: Rafinesque, Constantine S. 1820. Annals of Nature or Annual Synopsis of New Genera and Species of Animals, Plants, and Discoveries in North America. First Annual Number, for 1820. Thomas Smith, Lexington, Kentucky. 16pp.); Alligator Eel (Necturus phosphoreus: Rafinesque, Constantine S. 1820. Annals of Nature or Annual Synopsis of New Genera and Species of Animals, Plants, and Discoveries in North America. First Annual Number, for 1820. Thomas Smith, Lexington, Kentucky. 16pp.); Night Alligator (Necturus phosphoreus: Rafinesque, Constantine S. 1820. Annals of Nature or Annual Synopsis of New Genera and Species of Animals, Plants, and Discoveries in North America. First Annual Number, for 1820. Thomas Smith, Lexington, Kentucky. 16pp.); Lacepedes Menobranchus (Menobranchus lacepedii: Gray, John E. 1830. A synopsis of the species of the class reptilia. Pages 1-110 in The Animal Kingdom Arranged in Conformity with its Organization by the Baron Cuvier, member of teh Institute of France, with Additional Descriptions of all the Species Hitherto Named, and of many not before noticed. Ninth Volume. Whittaker, Treacher, and Company, London, England. pp.); Say's Menobranchus (Menobranchus lateralis: Gray, John E. 1830. A synopsis of the species of the class reptilia. Pages 1-110 in The Animal Kingdom Arranged in Conformity with its Organization by the Baron Cuvier, member of teh Institute of France, with Additional Descriptions of all the Species Hitherto Named, and of many not before noticed. Ninth Volume. Whittaker, Treacher, and Company, London, England. pp.); Proteus of the Lakes (Menobranchus lateralis: Gray, John E. 1830. A synopsis of the species of the class reptilia. Pages 1-110 in The Animal Kingdom Arranged in Conformity with its Organization by the Baron Cuvier, member of teh Institute of France, with Additional Descriptions of all the Species Hitherto Named, and of many not before noticed. Ninth Volume. Whittaker, Treacher, and Company, London, England. pp.); Harlan's Menobranchus (Menobranchus lateralis: Griffith, Edward and Edward Pidgeon. 1831. The class reptilia arranged by the Baron Cuvier, with specific descriptions. Part 2. Whittaker, Treacher, and Company, London. 1-481pp.); Banded Proteus (Menobranchus lateralis: De Kay, James E. 1842. Zoology of New-York, or, The New-York Fauna: Comprising Detailed Descriptions of All the Animals Hitherto Observed within the State of New-York, with Brief Notices of those Occasionally Found Near its Borders, and Accompanied by Appropriate Illustrations. Volume 1, Part 3 (Reptiles and Amphibians). W. & A. White & J. Visscher, Albany, New York. pp.); Mud Puppy (Necturus lateralis: Jordan, David Starr. 1876. Manual of the Vertebrates of the Northern United States: Including the District East of the Mississippi River, and North of North Carolina and Tennessee, Exclusive of Marine Species. Jansen, McClurg, and Company, Chicago, Illinois.. 342pp.); Menobranchus (Necturus lateralis: Jordan, David Starr. 1876. Manual of the Vertebrates of the Northern United States: Including the District East of the Mississippi River, and North of North Carolina and Tennessee, Exclusive of Marine Species. Jansen, McClurg, and Company, Chicago, Illinois.. 342pp.); Proteus (Necturus lateralis: Yarrow, Henry C. 1882. Check list of North American Reptilia and Batrachia with catalogue of specimens in U. S. National Museum. Bulletin of the United States National Museum (24):1-249); Lake Siren (Necturus lateralis: Yarrow, Henry C. 1882. Check list of North American Reptilia and Batrachia with catalogue of specimens in U. S. National Museum. Bulletin of the United States National Museum (24):1-249); Mud-puppy (Necturus lateralis: Davis, N. S., and Frank L. Rice. 1883. List of Batrachia and Reptilia of Illinois. Bulletin of the Chicago Academy of Sciences 1(3):25–32); Water-dog (Necturus lateralis: Davis, N. S., and Frank L. Rice. 1883. List of Batrachia and Reptilia of Illinois. Bulletin of the Chicago Academy of Sciences 1(3):25–32); Gilled Salamander (Necturus maculatus: Hay, Oliver P. 1892. Batrachians and Reptiles of the State of Indiana. Pages 409-624 in 17th Annual Report of the Indiana Department of Geology and Natural Resources, William B. Burford, Printer and Binder, Indianapolis, Indiana. pp.); Menobranchus (Necturus maculatus: Brown, Arthur, E. 1902. Report of the Board of Directors. Pages 5-22 in Thirtieth Annual Report of the Board of Directors of the Zoological Society of Philadelphia. Allen, Lane, and Scott, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. pp.); Mudpuppy (Necturus maculosus: Stejneger, Leonhard H. and Thomas Barbour. 1917. A Checklist of North American Amphibians and Reptiles. Harvard University Press, Cambridge, Massachusetts. pp.); Waterdog (Necturus maculosus: Stejneger, Leonhard H. and Thomas Barbour. 1917. A Checklist of North American Amphibians and Reptiles. Harvard University Press, Cambridge, Massachusetts. pp.); Waterdog (Necturus maculosus maculosus: Smith, Hobart M. 1934. The Amphibians of Kansas. American Midland Naturalist 15(4):377-527); Mudpuppy (Necturus maculosus maculosus: Smith, Hobart M. 1934. The Amphibians of Kansas. American Midland Naturalist 15(4):377-527); Lake Winnebago Mudpuppy (Necturus maculosus stictus: Schmidt, Karl P. 1953. A Check List of North American Amphibians and Reptiles. 6th Edition. University of Chicago Press, Chicago, Illinois. 280pp.);

Taxon Links:

  
Catalog of American Amphibians and Reptiles
  
Amphibian Species of the World
  
NatureServe
  
iNaturalist
  
GenBank
  
USGS - Nonindigenous Aquatic Species Database

Selected References:
1818 Rafinesque, Constantine S. Further account of discoveries in natural history, in the western states. The American Monthly Magazine and Critical Review 4:39-42
1933 Boyden, Alan and G. Kingsley Noble. The relationships of some common amphibia as determined by serological study. American Museum Novitates (606):1-24
1948 Bishop, Sherman H. Record Nectrurus from Wisconsin waters. Copeia 1948(1):66
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
1991 Collins, Joseph T. Viewpoint: A new taxonomic arrangement for some North American amphibins and reptiles Herpetological Review 22(2):42-43
1991 Collins, Joseph T. Amphibians and reptiles in the upper Mississippi river valley: Systematic and distributional problems. Journal of the Tennessee Academy of Science 66(4):149-152
2014 Crother, Brian I. The bold taxonomic hypotheses of Collins (1991): 23 years later. Herpetological Review 45(2):268-272
2017 Nelson, Stephen K., Matthew L. Niemiller, and Benjamin M. Fitzpatrick Co-occurrence and hybridization between Necturus maculosus and a heretofore unknown Necturus in the Southern Appalachians. Journal of Herpetology 51(4):559-566
2017 Chabarria, Ryan E., Christopher M. Murray, Paul E. Molerm, Henry L. Bart Jr., Brian I. Crother, and Craig Guyer. Evolutionary insights into the North American Necturus beyeri complex (Amphibia: Caudata) based on molecular genetic and morphological analyses. Journal of Zoological Systematics and Evolutionary Research 56(3):352–363
2020 Greenwald, Katherine, Amber Stedman, David Mifsud, Maegan Stapleton, Krista Larson, Isaac Chellman, Donna L. Parrish, and C. William Kilpatrick Phylogeographic analysis of Mudpuppies (Necturus maculosus). Journal of Herpetology 54(1):78–86

THE CENTER FOR NORTH AMERICAN HERPETOLOGY — Accessed: Saturday 26 April 2025 22:33 CT