TAXONOMIC AND NOMENCLATURAL STATUS OF THE UPPER BLACK-WARRIOR RIVER WATERDOG

In 1937 Percy Viosca described Necturus alabamensis as a flattened for m from the southwestern extremity of the Cumberland [=Appalachian] Pla teau. Necturus beyeri was described as a more cylindrical-bodied form occurring over a wide area of the lower Gulf Coastal Plain, but sympat ric with N. alabamensis in the Black Warrior River near Tuscaloosa, Al abama. Subsequent workers considered N. alabamensis to be allied to or synonymous with N. beyeri, ultimately applying the name alabamensis t o populations throughout the Mobile Bay drainage, and to lowland popul ations from southern Mississippi and eastern Louisiana to southern Geo rgia and panhandle Florida. We present pigmentation, morphometric, and distributional evidence that: (a) the distinctive waterdog in the upp er Black Warrior River drainage is in fact the form Viosca described a s Necturus alabamensis; therefore, the epithet alabamensis applies to that form; and (b) N. alabamensis and the lowland form Viosca referred to as N. beyeri are in fact syntopic on the Appalachian Plateau just above the Fall Line near Tuscaloosa. The juvenile pigmentation pattern of the upper Black Warrior waterdog (unknown to Viosca) is described and related to the distinctive adult pigmentation pattern. Past taxono mic and nomenclatural treatments of eastern Gulf Slope Necturus are su mmarized, and recommendations ale offered for revising the taxonomy an d nomenclature of these populations/species based on available evidenc e.