Mudpuppy Welfare: Fully Aquatic Salamanders of North American Rivers

Mudpuppies are fully aquatic salamanders that retain their gills throughout life. They face welfare threats from lampricide treatments, water pollution, and bycatch in ice fishing.

Key Facts

Mudpuppies are permanently aquatic and breathe entirely through their large, feathery external gills
They inhabit lakes, rivers, and streams across eastern North America
Sea lamprey control programmes using the chemical TFM (lampricide) kill mudpuppies as non-target bycatch
Mudpuppies are sometimes accidentally caught by ice fishers and removed from the water, causing rapid death from cold shock reversal
Their nocturnal habits and bottom-dwelling lifestyle make population assessment difficult

Welfare Considerations

Mudpuppy welfare involves two largely preventable anthropogenic threats: lampricide application in Great Lakes tributaries for sea lamprey control, and ice fishing bycatch. TFM is selectively toxic to lamprey larvae but affects mudpuppies at higher concentrations — refinement of application rates and methods to minimise mudpuppy mortality is technically feasible. Ice fishing bycatch mortality occurs when mudpuppies brought to the surface are killed by rapid temperature change; protocols for careful rapid return to cold water can improve survival.

What You Can Do

Support research into lampricide application methods that minimise mudpuppy bycatch
Handle any accidentally caught mudpuppies with cold, wet hands and return them immediately to the water
Contribute mudpuppy sighting data to citizen science databases to improve distribution knowledge
Donate to Great Lakes conservation programmes that monitor non-target impacts of lamprey control