Definitions

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.

  • noun Any of several large eastern North American aquatic salamanders of the genus Necturus, especially N. maculosus, that have feathery dark red external gills.

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.

  • noun An aquatic salamander of the family Proteidae.

Etymologies

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License

mud +‎ puppy, because of its barking sound.

Support

Help support Wordnik (and make this page ad-free) by adopting the word mudpuppy.

Examples

Comments

Log in or sign up to get involved in the conversation. It's quick and easy.

  • The Mudpuppies are a family of aquatic salamanders.

    The mudpuppy family, Proteidae, is divided into two genera - the mudpuppies proper, Necturus with six North American species, and Proteus with one European species. They represent an ancient group, dating from the time of the dinosaurs.

    In contrast to more familiar amphibians such as frogs, mudpuppies never lose their gills during maturation from the tadpole into the adult stage-- beneficial since they will spend their entire lives underwater.

    _Wikipedia

    February 11, 2008