what is this?

Found it in a small stream in the Mountains of Western North Carolina.

It appears to be a salamander still in larval stage. Im no expert on amphibians so I am not sure which type of Sally it is.

ok...lets make this question more specific...What species of Salamander is this...it is around 3 to 4 inches long...any SALAMANDER experts got an idea for me?

Sorry about that here is a link to the species it appears to be Called a Dwarf water dog

Dwarf waterdog

It's either Necturus lewisi or Necturus punctatus. N. punctatus being more likely, as it's a very common animal in that range, but N lewisi also lives there.

In either case, it looks pretty rough. If you're going to keep it, put it in cold (~70F or lower) flowing water with several rocks to hide under. Offer live bloodworms, blackworms, tubifex or tiny earthwoms. Other live aquatic foods might work as well. The gills will be much longer and brighter red when the animal is under less stress and in proper housing. Should it absolutely refuse to eat, try keeping it in a dark tub of R/O water in the fridge for about a week. Often the cold perks them right up.

Really neat animals, but pretty difficult to provide the proper temps for during the summer months.

I went to that website and thats what I thought it might be...the color just did not match. The gills are quite red in fact. The picture quality just sucks. I have some more pictures but I will post them when I get a chance. I had no plans too keep it. I have been coming to this area all of my life and I have never seen a salamander with gills this big...small ones but not big ones. I put this right up there with the 1 Hellbender I found 2 years ago. Pretty cool.

I know what you mean about bad pics...I can't take a good one for the life of me.

It's a great little find though. Glad to hear it's going back. Amazing what you can find flipping rocks while looking for hellgrammites isn't it? lol First time I flushed out a hellbender I nearly shit myself

I was Trout fishing in North Mills river and dove into a hole deeper than I am tall after I realized what I saw crawling on the bottom. I used a net and scooped it up and was just totally amazed...took a bunch of pictures...had the kids take pictures with it and let it go...It was awesome...that was actually my 2nd experience with a Hellbinder...the other time I was on another river and I was cleaning my trout but leaving them on the stringer and when I was done and lifted the stringer a big Hellbinder was holding onto 1 of the trout...it scared me so bad I never saw where it went.