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"Melanoid" common mudpuppy (Necturus maculosus)

T

TOsage

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I'm not sure if this would technically be a melanoid but maybe some of you salamander pro's can help me out. Last year I captured a different looking common mudpuppy, Necturus maculosus that was dark, charcoal grey and black as opposed to the normal brownish gold with some dark spotting/mottling. It took me awhile to realize but the specimen was completely lacking iridophores or xanthophoes or both if they have both. I'm not a specialist on caudates so forgive me if my terms are incorrect. I have found many many mudpuppies tho, true mudpuppies, not salamander larvae and all had some degree of reflective gold/yellowish brown pigmentation and facial patterning. This specimen was completely smokey/charcoal grey with some large black spot on the body and fine black speckling on the face and throughout but no facial pattern whatsoever. The lack of reflective pigment makes them nearly impossible to see in the water, the first one I netted was not seen, it just ended up in the net. The normal colored mudpuppies blend in extremely well but this one was practically invisible in the water. After thinking on it over the winter, actually it took me a few times looking at my pictures to figure out that this might be a genetic mutant, I realized that if it was genetic a percentage of the eggs expressing the "melanoid" trait must have hatched at some point. If the trait was not a disadvantage, like albinism, there might be more out there since the original speciman was young. This trait actually seemed like it could be beneficial so my hopes were high checking the same spot. After a few unsuccessful attempts, this summer I was able to confirm my suspicion when I captured 2 more "melanoid" specimens on the same day. Other survey attempts were unsuccessful in locating any "melanoids" but at least a dozen mudpuppies were captured and released per occasion. All 3 "melanoids" were dip netted and none were seen before the net was pulled up. I used to use minnow traps but have abandoned that practice due to potential harm to the mudpuppies. I have not been able to find any information regarding any visual mutation of any species of Nectutus. I will post some pictures if anyone is interested or PM me if you have any information on this topic.
 
I think attaching some photos here could serve as a valuable learning experience here. Interesting. There was a particular stream in Hickory Run State Park in Pennsylvania where I used to encounter a good number of the species back when I was a child, but they were all of standard visual characteristics.
 
Tony, I am extremely interested in seeing photos. If possible, please visit the Herpmapper Facebook page and share images there as well. Many biologists frequent the page and will be able to tell you if this is worthy of a peer reviewed research note. You would have assistance of course if you are interested in a potential publication if the photos are good enough as voucher specimens.

Also, minnow traps are approved for mudpuppy capture in the scientific community. Did you experience any problems? If so, feel free to PM me. I am a wildlife biologist.
 
Thank you for the replies. I will get the pictures uploaded shortly, hopefully today if I get time. You will see the appearance is much different than the normal variety of mudpup. In deep, fast moving water I have had traps get caught and there was no way to get them up, I tried all day. I asked the DNR if they had any ideas and was told it's probably in the best interest of the mudpuppies if minnow traps are not used
 
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