They are usually 3m in length and they have smooth and slippery skin. They are nocturnal and retreat to burrows during the day. Adults don't have gills and use lungs to breath air, while babies are born with gills and lose them as they get older. They range from Western Alabama, Eastern Texas, Mississippi Valley and Missouri. They live in lakes, marshes, sluggish streams, swamps and ditches. They feed on earthworms, crayfish, fish, insects, snakes, tadpoles, frogs, mollusks* and smaller Amphiuma in the dark, night waters. They breed underwater during the spring and winter. They are one of the largest amphibians in North America.
They are neither threatened nor endangered.
* Snails, clams and sea slugs.
