Necturus maculosus
Silhouette: Dmitry Bogdanov (vectorized by T. Michael Keesey) · PhyloPic
In 3 days ~10% in a week ~20%
The common mudpuppy (Necturus maculosus) is a species of salamander in the family Proteidae. It lives an entirely aquatic lifestyle in parts of North America in lakes, rivers, and ponds. It goes through paedomorphosis and retains its external gills. Because skin and lung respiration alone is not sufficient for gas exchange, the common mudpuppy must rely on external gills as its primary means of gas exchange. It is usually a rusty brown color and can grow to an average total length (including tail) of 13 in (330 mm). It is a nocturnal creature, and is active during the day only if the water in which it lives is murky. Its diet consists of almost anything it can get into its mouth, including insects, mollusks, and earthworms (as well as other annelids). Once a female common mudpuppy reaches sexual maturity at six years of age, she can lay an average of 60 eggs. In the wild, the average lifespan of a common mudpuppy is 11 years.
The common mudpuppy can be a rusty brown color with gray and black and usually has blackish-blue spots, but some albino adults have been reported in Arkansas. In clear, light water, their skin gets darker, likewise in darker water, their skin gets... Wikipedia →
Recording0:23
Canada · 2026
© ewencrook · iNaturalist · CC BY-NC 4.0
| # | Park | Country | Daily sighting probability |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Great Smoky Mountains National Park | 🇺🇸 United States |
More parks will be added in future updates.
| # | City | Country | Daily sighting probability |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Montreal | 🇨🇦 Canada |
| # | Zoo / Centre | Country | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Cincinnati Zoo and Botanical Garden | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 2 | Minnesota Zoo | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 3 | Slimbridge Wetland Centre | 🇬🇧 United Kingdom | |
| 4 | Rosamond Gifford Zoo | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 5 | Ueno Zoological Gardens (West Garden) | 🇯🇵 Japan | |
| 6 | Henry Vilas Zoo | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 7 | Vancouver Aquarium | 🇨🇦 Canada | |
| 8 | Newport Aquarium | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 9 | North Carolina Aquarium at Pine Knoll Shores | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 10 | Belle Isle Nature Center | 🇨🇦 Canada |
Rare
Under 5% of wildlife watchers report a Mudpuppy sighting in Montreal on a given day, based on 13 verified sightings from GBIF citizen-science data. It is the 11th most-seen of the 11 amphibians we can rate there. Over three days the chance rises to about 10%, and over a week to about 20%, if each day is a fresh chance.
January and February
In those months about 10% of wildlife watchers report a Mudpuppy in Montreal on a given day, against under 5% in March to December, the lowest months.
Between 2 and 5 pm
Across all the parks we cover, that three-hour window holds the most Mudpuppy sightings with a recorded time, and about 6 in 10 of them come between 6 am and 6 pm: it is seen both by day and at night.
Only Montreal, in our data
Montreal is the only city on Wallace's Line with enough records to rate Mudpuppy sightings: under 5% of wildlife watchers there report one on a given day.
Same order: Caudata
The closest relatives of the Mudpuppy that you can see in Montreal (order Caudata, Salamanders) are Eastern Red-backed Salamander (about 10%) and Blue-spotted Salamander (about 10%), with each one's daily chance of a sighting.
GBIF citizen-science records
It is estimated from how often the Mudpuppy is recorded against all the amphibians logged in Montreal (13 verified sightings), calibrated against known sighting rates. Figures are rounded to the nearest 10% because citizen-science data supports honest approximations, not decimals, and months with records from fewer than five people show "—". How it works.
