Gulf Coast waterdog

The Gulf Coast waterdog (Necturus beyeri) is a species of aquatic salamander in the family Proteidae. It is native to the southeastern United States, where it occurs in Alabama, Florida, Georgia, Louisiana, Mississippi, and Texas.[1] This may be a species complex that could be split into different taxa as research indicates.[2] It is closely related to Necturus alabamensis.[1]

Gulf Coast waterdog
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Amphibia
Order: Urodela
Family: Proteidae
Genus: Necturus
Species:
N. beyeri
Binomial name
Necturus beyeri
Viosca, 1937

Description

Adults are 6 to 8.5 inches (15 to 22 cm) in length. It is brown with light brown and black speckles. It exhibits neoteny, retaining its gills and larva-like tail into adulthood.[3]

Ecology

This species lives in streams with sandy bottoms. It remains on the substrate or burrows into it, sometimes hiding in debris.[1]

Individuals of both sexes move more during the colder months of the year and seem to use one site as a home area from which they occasionally exhibit long distance movements.[4]

The female attaches its eggs to aquatic debris.[5]

References
  1. IUCN SSC Amphibian Specialist Group. 2014. Necturus beyeri. The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species 2014. Downloaded on 25 June 2016.
  2. NatureServe. 2015. Necturus beyeri. NatureServe Explorer Version 7.1. Accessed 25 June 2016.
  3. Gulf Coast Waterdog. Jacksonville Zoo.
  4. Brenes, Roberto, and Neil B. Ford. “Seasonality and Movements of the Gulf Coast Waterdog (Necturus Beyeri) in Eastern Texas.” The Southwestern Naturalist, vol. 51, no. 2, 2006, pp. 152–156. JSTOR
  5. Necturus beyeri. AmphibiaWeb. 2016.
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