Description: N. lewisi has a rusty-brown dorsal side with many large, bluish-black spots. The ventral side is dark brown to grey and also spotted. The snout is compressed dorsally and truncated. The tail is compressed laterally and ridged. Each hind limb has four toes, and the gills are dull red and bushy. Sexually active males have sowled cloacae and two enlarged cloacal papillae that point to the rear. Males and females are of a similar size. Adults measure 16.5–28.0 cm from the tip of snout to tip of tail. The young possess a dorsal stripe along their length along with a dark lateral stripe.
Males and females become sexually mature after reaching 102 mm and 100 mm, respectively, measured from tip of the snout to the posterior end of the cloaca. This size is reached at 5.5 years in males and 6.5 years in females.
Habitat: Neuse River waterdogs prefer streams with a flow >10 cm/s and streams which are >15 m wide, and 1 m deep, in areas with a hard clay or soil bottom, as well as areas covered with leaf bed. Larvae are found in leaf beds of quieter waters which provide cover and foraging sites. Males have a greater range than females, and both males and females increase their range after moderate rains, but decrease it after large rains (>40 mm). During winter, adults mostly reside in burrows in banks or under granite rocks. During the spring, the adults move to large bedrock outcrops or beneath large boulders in relatively fast current where nesting occurs. Home ranges contain animal burrows or rock overhangs, large flat rocks on sand gravel substrates, and slack-water areas with detritus mats of leaves.
Range: The range of the Neuse River waterdog is limited to the Neuse and Tar-Pamlico River basins in the eastern Piedmont and Coastal Plain of North Carolina.
Diet: Adults mainly prey on snails, earthworms, isopods, amphipods, mayflies, stoneflies, caddisflies, true flies, and fish. Other prey include: slugs, leeches, spiders, crayfish, centipedes, millipedes, odonates, hellgrammites, beetles, caterpillars, and salamanders. Prey of larvae are mainly ostracods, copepods, mayflies, true flies, and beetles. Other prey items of larva include: earthworms, caldocerans, isopods, amphipods, collembolans, odonates, and stoneflies along with other insects.
Reproduction: Males have sperm in the vasa deferentia from November through May, and females have been found with this sperm from December through May. Females move to nesting sites beneath fast-moving current during the spring. Oviposition occurs in April and May, corresponding to the time when ovarian eggs reach their maximum size. Eggs are 8–9 mm in diameter and attach to the substrate by a blunt stalk.
Status: Listed as Near Threatened because its Extent of Occurrence is not much greater than 20,000 km2, and the number of mature individuals is probably declining, thus making the species close to qualifying for Vulnerable.
Disclaimer: ITIS taxonomy is based on the latest scientific consensus available, and is provided as a general reference source for interested parties. However, it is not a legal authority for statutory or regulatory purposes. While every effort has been made to provide the most reliable and up-to-date information available, ultimate legal requirements with respect to species are contained in provisions of treaties to which the United States is a party, wildlife statutes, regulations, and any applicable notices that have been published in the Federal Register. For further information on U.S. legal requirements with respect to protected taxa, please contact the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.
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