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Lesser siren

Siren intermedia · Salamanders and newts · Amphibians

Lesser siren (Siren intermedia): Eel-like, permanently aquatic salamander with external gills and forelimbs only (four toes each), no hind limbs. Gray to brown to nearly black with a lighter belly; 31-38 costal grooves; adults 18-69 cm. This profile does not establish whether taking it is legal anywhere.

Check rules for a place and date

Certified rules currently represented in Hunt: coverage in development. This is coverage, not a legal answer.

Scientific name
Siren intermedia
Family
Sirenidae
In North America
Native
Range
Southeastern United States; NatureServe lists Alabama, Florida, Georgia, Mississippi, North Carolina, South Carolina and Virginia under the current name, while Animal Diversity Web's older concept runs from Virginia to Florida and west to eastern Texas and up the Mississippi drainage; not in Canada.
Biology

How to identify it

Eel-like, permanently aquatic salamander with external gills and forelimbs only (four toes each), no hind limbs. [1][2]

Gray to brown to nearly black with a lighter belly; 31-38 costal grooves; adults 18-69 cm. [1][2]

Hatchlings have a red or yellow band across the snout and sides of the head and bold longitudinal stripes that fade with growth. [1][2]

Field knowledge

Where it lives

Shallow, warm, quiet, sometimes turbid water with abundant vegetation: swamps, sloughs, ponds, lakes, ditches and, less often, streams. [1][2]

Field knowledge

How it behaves

Nocturnal bottom forager that hides among plants and debris by day; clicks and yelps are its sounds. [1][2]

Survives drought by burrowing into mud and forming a mucous cocoon; can aestivate for weeks to over a year. [1][2]

Eats aquatic invertebrates (crayfish, worms, mollusks), amphibian eggs and larvae, and some plant material; most active in fall and winter in a Louisiana pond. [1][2]

Regulatory handoff

Limited legal take

Legal take of this species exists only under narrow conditions — a quota, a draw, a permit, a small area, or animals released or held on private land — set by the authorities below. Nowhere else is a legal opportunity implied, and Hunt shows one only where a certified rule establishes it.

Where legal take is listed

Being listed is not an open season. Seasons, zones, licences, methods and limits decide whether this animal may be taken on a given day and place — check Hunt or the authority before you go. Listings read 2026-09-30.

Geospatial intelligence

Where it is found

Southeastern United States; NatureServe lists Alabama, Florida, Georgia, Mississippi, North Carolina, South Carolina and Virginia under the current name, while Animal Diversity Web's older concept runs from Virginia to Florida and west to eastern Texas and up the Mississippi drainage; not in Canada.

Biology

Sources

Every claim above is attributed to one of these published sources.

  1. NatureServe · reviewed 2026-09-30

    NatureServe

  2. University of Michigan Museum of Zoology · reviewed 2026-09-30

    University of Michigan Museum of Zoology