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As many people know, Norfork National Fish Hatchery’s water comes from Norfork Lake. What they don’t realize, is that sometimes critters take a ride through our water lines and into the hatchery. One of those critters happens to be the common mudpuppy. Mudpuppies are large, fully aquatic salamanders native to the area. Many salamanders start out aquatic, possessing gills during the larval stage, but eventually meta morph into their terrestrial adult stages. While those species lose their gills, mudpuppies retain them and remain aquatic for the entirety of their lives. They are most often very illusive and are not spotted often in the wild. They feed on aquatic invertebrates and vertebrates alike. Things like crayfish, snails, and small fish are all part of the menu. They have poor eyesight, but their strong sense of smell along with sensory structures in their skin make up for their lack of vision. Breeding is very rarely witnessed, but females lay eggs under rocks or other structure structure
Something temporarily or permanently constructed, built, or placed; and constructed of natural or manufactured parts including, but not limited to, a building, shed, cabin, porch, bridge, walkway, stair steps, sign, landing, platform, dock, rack, fence, telecommunication device, antennae, fish cleaning table, satellite dish/mount, or well head.
Learn more about structure and are thought to guard their nests.
We typically start seeing mudpuppies at the hatchery during the latter part of the winter. Although they are amphibians, they are active during the winter months. Why they choose to vacation in our raceways is a mystery to us here at the hatchery. However, they provide a great wow factor for outreach events and school group tours. Once you're here, you can see just how wild of a ride they take to make it into the raceways. If you’re lucky, maybe you can even spot one for yourself.
