The Escambia waterdog (''Necturus mounti'') is a species of aquatic

salamander Salamanders are a group of amphibians typically characterized by their lizard-like appearance, with slender bodies, blunt snouts, short limbs projecting at right angles to the body, and the presence of a tail in both larvae and adults. All t ...

in the family

Proteidae The family Proteidae is a group of aquatic salamanders found today in the Balkan Peninsula and North America. The range of the genus ''Necturus'' (commonly known as waterdogs or mudpuppies) runs from southern central Canada, through the midwe ...

. It is

endemic Endemism is the state of a species being found in a single defined geographic location, such as an island, state, nation, country or other defined zone; organisms that are indigenous to a place are not endemic to it if they are also found else ...

to the southeastern

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territori ...

Taxonomy

It was formerly thought to be a lineage of the

Gulf Coast waterdog The western waterdog (''Necturus beyeri'') is a species of aquatic salamander in the family Proteidae. It is Endemism, endemic to the southeastern United States, where it occurs in Alabama, Louisiana, Mississippi, and Texas. Taxonomy This may ...

(''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. mounti'' (alongside the

Apalachicola waterdog The Apalachicola waterdog (''Necturus moleri'') is a species of aquatic salamander in the family Proteidae. It is endemic to the south-eastern United States. Taxonomy It was formerly thought to be a lineage of the Gulf Coast waterdog (''N. be ...

, ''N. moleri''). The specific epithet honors American herpetologist Robert H. Mount.

Distribution

It is found in southern

Alabama (We dare defend our rights) , anthem = "Alabama" , image_map = Alabama in United States.svg , seat = Montgomery , LargestCity = Huntsville , LargestCounty = Baldwin County , LargestMetro = Greater Birmingham , area_total_km2 = 135,765 ...

and the Panhandle of

Florida Florida is a state located in the Southeastern region of the United States. Florida is bordered to the west by the Gulf of Mexico, to the northwest by Alabama, to the north by Georgia, to the east by the Bahamas and Atlantic Ocean, and to ...

. It is found in the Blackwater, Escambia/Conecuh, Perdido, and

Yellow Yellow is the color between green and orange on the spectrum of light. It is evoked by light with a dominant wavelength of roughly 575585 nm. It is a primary color in subtractive color systems, used in painting or color printing. In the ...

river basins A drainage basin is an area of land where all flowing surface water converges to a single point, such as a river mouth, or flows into another body of water, such as a lake or ocean. A basin is separated from adjacent basins by a perimeter, the ...

Description

In contrast to ''N. beyeri'', and much like ''N. moleri'', it is small in size, weakly spotted, and has an unstriped larva that lacks the numerous white spots of ''N. beyeri''.

References

Proteidae Amphibians of the United States Endemic fauna of the United States Amphibians described in 2020 {{Sarcopterygii-stub