The Necturus lewisi Study: 



Introduction, Selected Literature Review, 



and Comments on the Hydrologic Units 



and Their Faunas 



John E. Cooper and Ray E. Ashton, Jr. ' 



North Carolina State Museum of Natural History, 



P. O. Box 27647, Raleigh, North Carolina 27611 



ABSTRACT.— Of the three species of Necturus occurring in North 

 Carolina, only N. lewisi, the Neuse River Waterdog, is endemic to the 

 state. Described as a subspecies of N. maculosus by C. S. Brimley in 

 1924, the salamander occurs in the Neuse and Tar rivers and their 

 tributaries, from the eastern Piedmont Plateau nearly to tidewater in 

 the Coastal Plain. Because of its endemicity and limited known distri- 

 bution, N. lewisi became a candidate for pre-listing studies by the 

 Office of Endangered Species, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, and the 

 N.C. Wildlife Resources Commission. In 1977, using radioisotope tagg- 

 ing ( 60 Co), the N.C. State Museum conducted a preliminary behav- 

 ioral study of N. lewisi, and in 1978 began a 3-year contractual study 

 of the animal's distribution, ecology, and ethology. Most prior studies 

 were taxonomic, but some provided information on various aspects of 

 life history, habitat preference, and preliminary conservation status. 

 The Neuse and Tar-Pamlico hydrologic units support similar faunas, 

 and contain other endemic species, some of which are considered by 

 biologists to be at risk. 



INTRODUCTION 

 Three species of Necturus occur in North Carolina: Necturus macu- 

 losus maculosus (Rafinesque), the Mudpuppy, inhabits several streams 

 in the Tennessee River basin of the mountains and has a broad distribu- 

 tion that ranges from southeastern Canada west to Kansas and south to 

 northern Alabama; Necturus punctatus punctatus (Gibbes), the Dwarf 

 Waterdog, occurs in streams and rivers of the Coastal Plain and the 

 eastern edge of the Piedmont Plateau, ranging along the Atlantic sea- 

 board from southeastern Virginia to central Georgia; and Necturus 

 lewisi (Brimley), the Neuse River Waterdog, which is endemic to the 

 Neuse and Tar-Pamlico river basins in both the eastern Piedmont Pla- 

 teau and the Coastal Plain, occurring nearly to tidewater. The two east- 

 ern species, TV. punctatus and N. lewisi, are sympatric and possibly syn- 

 topic in the Fall Line Zone and parts of the upper Coastal Plain. 



1 Present address: International Expeditions. Inc., 1776 Independence 

 Court, Birmingham, Alabama 35216 



Brimleyana No. 10:1-12. February 1985. 



