THE CENTER FOR NORTH AMERICAN HERPETOLOGY
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Amphibia    Caudata    Proteidae  

Dwarf Waterdog
Necturus punctatus (Gibbes, 1850)
NEK-tur-us — punk-TAY-tus

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

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Occurrences:; 1,156 Total; 1,081 Museum; 75 Other
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Province/State Distribution:
United States: Georgia North Carolina South Carolina Virginia

Taxonomic Etymology:
Named for its small size and spotted body pattern.
Necturus — Greek for “swimming tail,” emphasizing its aquatic lifestyle.
punctatus — Latin for “spotted” or “dotted,” from punctum (point or dot), referring to the small dark spots along its flanks and back.

First instance(s) of published English names:
Gibbes's Proteus (Necturus punctatus: 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); Water Dog (Necturus maculatus: Brimley, Clement S. 1896. Batrachia found at Raleigh, N. C. The American Naturalist 30():500-501); Southern Water Dog (Necturus punctatus: Brimley, Clement S. 1915. List of reptiles and amphibians of North Carolina. Journal of the Elisha Mitchell Scientific Society 30(4):195-206); Mobile Waterdog (Necturus lodingi: Schmidt, Karl P. 1953. A Check List of North American Amphibians and Reptiles. 6th Edition. University of Chicago Press, Chicago, Illinois. 280pp.); Dwarf Waterdog (Necturus punctatus: Conant, Roger, Fred R. Cagle, Coleman J. Goin, Charles H. Lowe, Wilfred T. Neill, M. Graham Netting, Karl P. Schmidt, Charles E. Shaw, Robert C. Stebbins, and Charles M. Bogert. 1956. Common names for North American amphibians and reptiles. Copeia 1956(3):172-185);

Taxon Links:

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

Selected References:
1850 Gibbes, L. R. On a new species of Menobranchus (punctatus) from South Carolina. Proceedings of the American Association for the Advancement of Science 1850:159
1918 Dunn, Emmett R. The collection of amphibia of the Museum of Comparative Zoology. Bulletin of the Museum of Comparative Zoology 62:445-471
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
1998 Dundee, Harold A. Nectrurus punctatus. Catalogue of American Amphibians and Reptiles (663):1-5

THE CENTER FOR NORTH AMERICAN HERPETOLOGY — Accessed: Monday 10 August 2026 03:59 CT