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Necturus maculosus

(Rafinesque, 1818)

Mudpuppy

G5Secure Found in 1 roadless area NatureServe Explorer →

G5SecureGlobal Rank

Least concernIUCN

Identity

Unique IDELEMENT_GLOBAL.2.105412

Element CodeAAAAE01042

Record TypeSPECIES

ClassificationSpecies

Classification StatusStandard

Name CategoryVertebrate Animal

IUCNLeast concern

Endemicoccurs (regularly, as a native taxon) in multiple nations

KingdomAnimalia

PhylumCraniata

ClassAmphibia

OrderCaudata

FamilyProteidae

GenusNecturus

COSEWICT,SC

Synonyms

Necturus maculosus maculosus(Rafinesque, 1818)

Other Common Names

Common Mudpuppy (EN) Necture tacheté (FR)

Concept Reference

Collins, J. T. 1990. Standard common and current scientific names for North American amphibians and reptiles. 3rd ed. Society for the Study of Amphibians and Reptiles. Herpetological Circular No. 19. 41 pp.

Taxonomic Comments

Collins (1991) elevated N. maculosus louisianensis to species rank without explanation. Fouquette and Dubois (2014) recognize N. louisianensis as a distinct species and this has been accepted by Frost (2020). Petranka (1998) and Crother et al. (2000 and subsequent updates) treat maculosus and louisianensis as subspecies. Nelson et al. (2017) 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 (Nicholson 2025). The taxonomic status of this species requires further research.

Conservation Status

Rank MethodExpertise without calculation

Review Date2015-06-05

Change Date1996-11-01

Range Extent Comments

This species occurs in eastern North America, ranging from southeastern Manitoba east to southern Quebec, Canada, south to Rhode Island, Massachusetts, Connecticut, New York, extreme northern Kentucky, southern Illinois, central Missouri, south-central Kansas, USA (Frost 2021).

Ecology & Habitat

Other Nations (2)

CanadaN4

Province	Rank	Native
Ontario	S4	Yes
Manitoba	S3	Yes
Quebec	S4	Yes

United StatesN5

Province	Rank	Native
Maryland	SX	Yes
Vermont	S2	Yes
West Virginia	S3	Yes
Connecticut	S3	Yes
Tennessee	S5	Yes
Pennsylvania	S3	Yes
Oklahoma	S3	Yes
Indiana	S3	Yes
Minnesota	S3	Yes
Rhode Island	SNA	No
Kentucky	S5	Yes
North Dakota	S4	Yes
Ohio	S4	Yes
Iowa	S2	Yes
Maine	SNA	No
Georgia	S1	Yes
Virginia	S2	Yes
Wisconsin	S3	Yes
New Hampshire	SNA	No
Massachusetts	SNA	No
Kansas	S3	Yes
Mississippi	SU	Yes
Alabama	S2	Yes
South Dakota	SX	Yes
Illinois	S1	Yes
New York	S3	Yes
Missouri	S4	Yes
Michigan	S3	Yes
North Carolina	S2	Yes

Roadless Areas (1)

Pennsylvania (1)

Area	Forest	Acres
Allegheny Front	Allegheny National Forest	7,430

References (13)

Collins, J. T. 1990. Standard common and current scientific names for North American amphibians and reptiles. 3rd ed. Society for the Study of Amphibians and Reptiles. Herpetological Circular No. 19. 41 pp.
Collins, J. T. 1991. Viewpoint: a new taxonomic arrangement for some North American amphibians and reptiles. SSAR Herpetol. Review 22:42-43.
Collins, J. T. 1997. Standard common and current scientific names for North American amphibians and reptiles. Fourth edition. Society for the Study of Amphibians and Reptiles, Herpetological Circular No. 25. 40 pp.
Crother, B. I. (editor). 2012. Scientific and standard English names of amphibians and reptiles of North America north of Mexico, with comments regarding confidence in our understanding. 7th edition. SSAR Herpetological Circular 39:1-92.
Crother, B. I. (editor). 2017. Scientific and standard English names of amphibians and reptiles of North America north of Mexico, with comments regarding confidence in our understanding. 8th edition. SSAR Herpetological Circular 43:1-104. [Updates in SSAR North American Species Names Database at: https://ssarherps.org/cndb]
Crother, B. I., J. Boundy, J. A. Campbell, K. de Queiroz, D. R. Frost, R. Highton, J. B. Iverson, P. A. Meylan, T. W. Reeder, M. E. Seidel, J. W. Sites, Jr., T. W. Taggart, S. G. Tilley, and D. B. Wake. 2000 [2001]. Scientific and standard English names of amphibians and reptiles of North America north of Mexico, with comments regarding confidence in our understanding. Society for the Study of Amphibians and Reptiles, Herpetological Circular No. 29. 82 pp.
DuBois, A., and J. Raffaëlli. 2012. A new ergotaxonomy of the order Urodela Duméril, 1805 (Amphibia, Batrachia). Alytes. Paris 28:77–161.
Fouquette Jr., M.J., and A. DuBois. 2014. A Checklist of North American Amphibians and Reptiles. Seventh Edition. Volume 1—Amphibians. Xlibris LLC, Bloomington, Indiana. 586 pp.
Frost, D. R. 2017. Amphibian Species of the World: an Online Reference. Version 6.0. Electronic Database accessible at http://research.amnh.org/herpetology/amphibia/index.html. American Museum of Natural History, New York, USA.
Frost, D.R. 2020. Amphibian Species of the World: an Online Reference. Version 6.0. American Museum of Natural History, New York, USA. Online: http://research.amnh.org/herpetology/amphibia/index.html
Frost, D.R. 2021. Amphibian Species of the World (ASW): an Online Reference. Version 6.1. American Museum of Natural History, New York, USA. Online: http://research.amnh.org/herpetology/amphibia/index.html
Nicholson, K. E. (ed.). 2025. Scientific and Standard English Names of Amphibians and Reptiles of North America North of Mexico, with Comments Regarding Confidence in Our Understanding. Ninth Edition. Society for the Study of Amphibians and Reptiles. 87 pp. Online database available at: https://cnah.org/SSARnames.aspx
Petranka, J. W. 1998. Salamanders of the United States and Canada. Smithsonian Institution Press, Washington, D.C.