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



Although six decades have passed since C. S. Brimley (1924) de- 

 scribed N. lewisi (as a subspecies of N. maculosus), little information on 

 this large aquatic salamander has been published. Several of the few 

 papers that included discussions of the taxonomy, distribution, and 

 ecology of the animal contained incomplete or incorrect information. 

 This can probably be attributed to the relatively small number of speci- 

 mens, from very few localities, that were available in collections until 

 around 1970. 



Viosca (1937) elevated N. lewisi to full species status, and Brimley 

 (1944) seems to have been the first to recognize that the salamander was 

 restricted to the Neuse and Tar drainages. Since both rivers rise and 

 debouch in North Carolina (see Figs. 1 and 2 in Braswell and Ashton, 

 this issue), N. lewisi is endemic to the state. Because its endemicity and 

 limited known distribution could make it vulnerable to pollution and 

 habitat modification, and because its "population size and trends are 

 unknown," Stephan (1977:317-318) advised that N. lewisi be designated 

 a species of Special Concern. The dearth of information on its distribu- 

 tion and biology made N. lewisi a candidate for review as part of the 

 endangered species program in North Carolina. In 1977, the North 

 Carolina Wildlife Resources Commission provided the North Carolina 

 State Museum with funds from its Carolina Conservationist Program 

 for a preliminary behavioral study of the species. Among other accom- 

 plishments, the study established that radioisotope tagging ( 60 Co) of N. 

 lewisi was a reliable method for monitoring the salamander in its natu- 

 ral habitat (see Ashton, this issue). In 1978, the Wildlife Resources 

 Commission, through a cooperative agreement with the Office of Endan- 

 gered Species, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (under Title 6 of the 

 Endangered Species Act of 1973), funded a 3-year contract study of N. 

 lewisi by the museum. Ray E. Ashton, Jr., formulated the contract pro- 

 posal and served as director of the project, and Alvin L. Braswell coor- 

 dinated the extensive field studies. Field technicians were Angelo Cap- 

 parella, Keith Everett, Ernie Flowers, Paul Freed, Roger Mays, Eric 

 Rawls, and Jerry Reynolds. 



The main goals of the N. lewisi project were to gather information 

 on the distribution, ecology, and behavior of the species, but the study 

 yielded results that exceeded these objectives. Data were also collected 

 on other aspects of the animal's biology; some of these results are 

 reported elsewhere in this issue. Other data were collected on N. puncta- 

 tus, which occurs with N. lewisi at many localities but has a broader 

 distribution. These results will be reported at another time. The general 

 collections made in both the Neuse and Tar rivers were planned to 

 include other amphibians, reptiles, fishes, and many kinds of benthic 

 invertebrates (particularly crayfishes; Cooper and Cooper, in ms.), 

 without compromising the project's primary objectives. As a result of 



