What Is A Mudpuppy？ ｜ Critter Connection

Hi everyone. I'm Marjorie and today I'm here with one of our salamanders, the mud puppy. So mud puppies are a type of aquatic salamander. That means they live in the water. And what's cool about them is that they keep their gills when they're adults. And that's what's moving on the side of his neck there. So most salamanders, they have gills when they are larva, when they're young, and then lose them when they get older. But some salamanders, like the mud puppy here, they retain their gills when they're adults. So mud puppies, they are considered threatened in Illinois. They're found in ponds, streams, rivers, and lakes. And they eat things like fish, fish eggs, crayfish, aquatic insects, and mollusks. And another name for them is actually water dogs, because of the barking noise they sometimes make. This particular mud puppy also really loves to eat earthworms. So thank you so much for checking out our mud puppy.