Abundance of Gulf Coast Waterdogs (Necturus beyeri) along Bayou Lacombe, Saint Tammany Parish, Louisiana

Abstract/Summary

Few ecological studies have been conducted on Gulf Coast Waterdogs (Necturus beyeri), and published studies have focused on relatively small stream sections of 125 m to https://1.75 km. In 2015, we sampled Gulf Coast Waterdogs at 25 locations along a 13.4-km stretch of Bayou Lacombe (Saint Tammany Parish, Louisiana, USA) to better understand factors that may influence the distribution of Gulf Coast Waterdogs within streams. We checked 250 unbaited traps once per week for three weeks and captured 170 Gulf Coast Waterdogs at 18 of the 25 sites. We used hierarchical models of abundance to estimate abundance at each site as a function of site covariates including pH, turbidity, and distance from headwaters. The abundance of Gulf Coast Waterdogs within Bayou Lacombe was highest toward the center of the segment of stream we sampled, but we found no evidence that pH or turbidity affected abundance within our study area. Site level abundance estimates of Gulf Coast Waterdogs ranged from 0 to 82, and we estimated that there were 767 (95% Bayesian credible interval [CRI]: 266–983) Gulf Coast Waterdogs summed across all 25 sampling sites. We derived an estimate of 6,321 (95% CRI: 2,139–15,922) Gulf Coast Waterdogs for the entire 13.4 km section of Bayou Lacombe, which includes our 25 sites and the adjoining stream reaches between our sites. Our results suggest that Gulf Coast Waterdogs may be uncommon or absent in the headwaters, possibly because of shallow water and swift currents with little preferred habitats, and prefer the middle stream reaches with adequate depth and an abundance of preferred microhabitats.