26 Alvin L. Braswell and Ray E. Ashton, Jr. 



Table 10. Terrestrial food items recovered from 117 Necturus lewisi digestive 

 tracts. These 1 10 items comprised 7.7% of the total number of items 

 recovered. 



Slugs 7 Millipeds 2 



Earthworms 48 Grasshopper 1 



Spiders 19 Beetles 6 



Sowbugs 8 Grub 1 



Centipedes 16 Caterpillars 2 



only major food difference seen in 9 larval N. lewisi collected at the 

 same site as the 14 larval N. punctatus was the absence of Ceratopogo- 

 nidae in the N. lewisi diet. Except for the absence of vertebrates, the diet 

 of adult N. punctatus was similar to that of adult N. lewisi. 



Potential food items that seemed to be abundant in most N. lewisi 

 sites but were not eaten in numbers concomitant with their relative 

 abundance included crayfish, shrimp, amphipods, Plecoptera nymphs, 

 Odonata naiads, and small fish. 



Subsequent to the survey an adult N. lewisi, trapped on 4 February 

 1984, contained an adult worm snake, Carphophis amoenus. The worm 

 snake passed through the salamander nearly intact; only the tail showed 

 signs of digestion. 



DISCUSSION 



Necturus lewisi is distributed widely in the Neuse and Tar River 

 drainages. It occupies most clean, moderate to swift flowing streams 

 with widths over 15.5 m in the Piedmont Plateau and along the Fall 

 Line. Smaller streams are less frequently inhabited and N. lewisi is not 

 commonly found in streams less than 5.5 m wide. Most Coastal Plain 

 N. lewisi sites are in or near the mainstream of the Neuse and Tar rivers 

 or their largest tributaries. Recent records from the mainstream of the 

 Neuse River, and historic records from near Washington, Beaufort 

 County, place N. lewisi in river areas that are close to waters occasion- 

 ally influenced by salt water. Their salinity tolerance, however, is 

 unknown. 



Parts of the Trent River subdrainage of the Neuse River basin 

 differ from most other Coastal Plain tributaries in having carbonate 

 rocks. The Castle Hayne limestone belt underlies the system, and out- 

 croppings are common in the mainstream of the Trent River and in 

 many of its tributaries. Sampling efforts in the system indicate that N. 

 lewisi is of frequent occurrence in the area of these limestone outcropp- 

 ings. Outside the areas of limestone influence, Necturus punctatus 

 seems to replace N. lewisi in the Trent River system. How and to what 

 extent the limestone outcroppings relate to N. lewisi is not known. Salt 

 water influence and a possible lack of suitable habitat in the lower Trent 



