The Dwarf Waterdog is the smallest member of the family Proteidae, and is endemic to the United States

United States

The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

.

Description

This species is usually between 4½–7½" (11.4–18.9 cm), and has bushy, narrow gill

Gill

A gill is a respiratory organ found in many aquatic organisms that extracts dissolved oxygen from water, afterward excreting carbon dioxide. The gills of some species such as hermit crabs have adapted to allow respiration on land provided they are kept moist...

s and a compressed tail. All feet have four toes. The salamander is dark brown, slate-grey to black above, and has a grey belly with a bluish-white band along the midline. Unlike other members of the Proteidae family it is without any black spots.

Habitat

Dwarf Waterdogs live in slow-moving muddy or sandy-bottomed stream

Stream

A stream is a body of water with a current, confined within a bed and stream banks. Depending on its locale or certain characteristics, a stream may be referred to as a branch, brook, beck, burn, creek, "crick", gill , kill, lick, rill, river, syke, bayou, rivulet, streamage, wash, run or...

s and associated deep irrigation ditches.

Geographic range

Necturus punctatus is found on the coastal plain from southeastern Virginia

Virginia

The Commonwealth of Virginia , is a U.S. state on the Atlantic Coast of the Southern United States. Virginia is nicknamed the "Old Dominion" and sometimes the "Mother of Presidents" after the eight U.S. presidents born there...

 to southcentral Georgia

Georgia (U.S. state)

Georgia is a state located in the southeastern United States. It was established in 1732, the last of the original Thirteen Colonies. The state is named after King George II of Great Britain. Georgia was the fourth state to ratify the United States Constitution, on January 2, 1788...

(may extend westward along Gulf coastal plain).