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Mudpuppy
Necturus maculosus
Status
No status assigned in Minnesota.
Description
The Mudpuppy is Minnesota's largest salamander
reaching lengths of 13-16 inches. They are also our only salamander
that is entirely aquatic their whole lives. Adults are brown,
reddish-brown, or gray above with varying numbers and sizes
of black spots. Ventrally, they are gray with dark mottling.
They have four toes on the front and back feet. Long, feathery
red gills are very obvious on the sides of the head. The head
is large and flattened. They have small, lidless eyes that
do not bulge out from the head like our other salamanders.
The tail is laterally compressed with fins above and below
that give the tail a paddle-like look. This salamander is
extremely slimy and it is nearly impossible to hold on to
a specimen with bare hands.
Subspecies
The mudpuppy (Necturus maculosus maculosus)
is the only subspecies found in Minnesota.
Range
Mudpuppies are found in eastern Minnesota
along the Mississippi (not past St. Anthony Falls, however)
and St. Croix Rivers and some tributaries of them. They extend
west through the state via the Minnesota River and in rivers
and lakes associated with the Red River in northwestern Minnesota.
Habitat
Mudpuppies are found in medium to large
rivers and lakes with all types of bottoms. In clear, fast
moving rivers and streams, mudpuppies have small, compressed
gills. In warm or slow moving rivers and lakes they have big,
bushy gills. They take refuge under sunken objects such as
rocks, logs, boards, and other debris. They have been taken
at depths of 70 feet in large lakes.
Habits
Mudpuppies are active year round. They
are mainly nocturnal. They breed in fall and early winter.
The female lays up to 100 eggs in late spring and summer.
She digs a cavity under an object such as a rock or log and
turns upside down to attach her eggs to the "roof" of her
nest. She guards them until they hatch and may stay with the
young a while after they hatch. I have seen a mother and many
newly hatched mudpuppies in a crushed minnow bucket in a lake
in Ottertail County in June. The young are very small and
are marked with one yellow dorsolateral stripe down each side
of the back. The pattern changes relatively slowly until they
look like adults. This may take five years (Bishop, 1941).
Fishermen often catch mudpuppies while they are fishing. Many
believe them to be poisonous and will cut their line before
touching them. This is false; mudpuppies are not poisonous,
but large specimens may give a good bite if handled roughly.
Food
Mudpuppies will eat anything they can catch.
Crustaceans, insects, worms, fish, fish eggs, salamanders,
and crayfish are all reported foods. Mudpuppies probably do
not have keen eyesight and rely heavily upon olfactory cues
to find their prey.
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