Apalachicola waterdog
Species of aquatic salamander
The Apalachicola waterdog (Necturus moleri) is a species of aquatic salamander in the family Proteidae. It is endemic to the south-eastern United States.
01Taxonomy
It was formerly thought to be a lineage of the Gulf Coast waterdog (N. beyeri), but a 2020 analysis found sufficient morphological and genetic divergence for it to be considered its own species, and it was thus described as its own species, N. moleri (alongside the Escambia waterdog, N. mounti). The specific epithet honors American herpetologist Paul E. Moler.
02Distribution
It is found in southeastern Alabama, the Panhandle of Florida, and southwestern to north-central Georgia. It is found in the Apalachicola, Chipola, Choctawhatchee/Pea, Econfina, and Ochlockonee river basins.
03Description
In contrast to N. beyeri, it is small in size, weakly spotted, and has an unstriped larva that lacks the numerous white spots of N. beyeri. It shares these phenotypic traits with N. mounti, although it is genetically distinct.
Sources and credits
This article is adapted from the Wikipedia article “Apalachicola waterdog”, written by its contributors and licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0. Fathomly has changed the layout, removed citation markers, navigation and maintenance notices, and adjusted punctuation. This adapted version is shared under the same license. For references, see the original article.
Images, from Wikimedia Commons:
- Apalachicola waterdog from Florida.jpg by Captainjack0000, CC BY-SA 4.0
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