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Wisconsin DNR Working To Learn More About Mudpuppy Population - Milwaukee Journal Sentinel

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Save The Mudpuppy Campaign Aims To Protect Vital Amphibian That Calls Wolf Lake Home - Chicago Tribune

Despite their modest name, slimy skin and reclusive nature, mudpuppies are significant in Wolf Lake, according to a scientist.

"They are really special," Dr. Philip Willink said.

He has overseen scientific studies on mudpuppies in Wolf Lake, which has shores in both Hammond and Chicago.

The mudpuppy is a species of salamander that lives entirely in the water. It is sensitive to pollution and prefers clean water, Willink said, so its presence is a positive sign for Wolf Lake.

"For some reason — and we don't really understand why — Wolf Lake seems to be attractive to them," Willink said.

And that, he said, indicates that "Wolf Lake is actually in pretty good shape."

Willink is a researcher for the Illinois Natural History Survey. He also is president of the board of directors of the Association for the Wolf Lake Initiative, which promotes activities around the bi-state lake.

AWLI — in conjunction with the Shedd Aquarium and the Fund for Wild Nature — will be running a "Save the Mudpuppy" campaign this fall and winter, directed to people who fish in the lake and nearby streams.

The campaign urges people who accidentally catch mudpuppies — which can grow up to 11 to 18 inches long, with long, red, flowery external gills — to put them back into the water immediately.

Southern Illinois University graduate student Alicia Beattie is part of a team researching the mudpuppy population in Hammond's Wolf Lake. The amphibian, which has distinctive red flowery gills, is a threatened species in Illinois.

Mudpuppies are most active in cold weather and can be caught accidentally by people fishing.

In the past, AWLI Executive Director Michael Boos said, ice fishermen often would throw those mudpuppies onto the ice, where they would die.

"We just want the fishermen to be aware of the mudpuppies and know what to do with them," he said.

People who catch mudpuppies while fishing usually have one of two reactions, Willink said.

"They may think it's a mystery, because mudpuppies are weird-looking. Or people think that maybe they're competing with fish for food, which is not the case."

Mudpuppies are unusual in one way because they're most active in cold weather, "which is very strange," Willink said.

They hide out, possibly under rocks or in deep water, in warmer weather.

Several decades ago, Boos said, mudpuppies were so common in Lake Michigan that they were gathered for dissection studies in high school biology classes. More recently, they have been considered a threatened species in Illinois.

Little was known about the mudpuppies in Wolf Lake until a few years ago, when Willink — then at the Shedd Aquarium in Chicago — directed studies by two Southern Illinois University graduate students, one of whom did his doctoral dissertation on the aquatic salamanders.

The research, carried out on the Illinois side of Wolf Lake, indicated that there were hundreds of mudpuppies in that area of the lake.

Boos said AWLI, in its "Save the Mudpuppy" campaign, will seek to set up mudpuppy displays in libraries, schools and other public buildings to urge people who catch mudpuppies accidentally to return them to the water.

Tim Zorn is a freelance reporter for the Post-Tribune.

Originally Published: September 21, 2022 at 10:14 AM CDT

Amphibian Of The Week: A Mudpuppy Near Burnham Harbor

Jerry Bayne caught his biggest mudpuppy Sept. 22 south of Burnham Harbor on a 6-inch Rattlin' Rogue.

"Thought it was a small burbot until I netted it and noticed the legs," he emailed.

Mudpuppies (Necturus maculosus) are amphibians native to Illinois and found statewide, but they're listed as threatened. I think that status is more of protective one because so little is known of them. Anglers rarely encounter them in the Chicago area, though mudpuppies seem to be caught most often in winter around Navy Pier.

I'll call this Amphibian of the Week, though I'm not sure I've ever done that before. Same as Fish of the Week, if you wish to submit an AOTW to celebration them and their stories around Chicago outdoors, here's how:

To make submissions, email (BowmanOutside@gmail.Com) or contact me on Facebook (Dale Bowman), X (@BowmanOutside), Instagram (@BowmanOutside) or Bluesky (@BowmanOutside.Bsky.Social).

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