Rare. Very large. Color grayish with dark blotches. Skin highly wrinkled, especially on sides. Four limbs with five toes on each hind foot. External gills absent. 
Arkansas Herpetological Atlas 2019
This species is represented by 146 records from 19 sources: 141 museum (
), 2 literature (
), 0 research (
), and 1 observation (
), with 2 additional Trauth et al. (2004) locality points remaining unsourced (
). It has been museum vouchered for 5 of 75 counties (), with 2 additional counties having other forms of reported occurrence (). Years of collection range from 1952 to 2008.
The only remaining viable population known for this species in Arkansas occupies the Eleven Point River, Randolph County. A formerly robust population occupied the upper Spring River, however, the last surveys in 2004-2006 located only 12 individuals and this population is now considered as functionally extirpated (K. J. Irwin, pers. comm.). Additional records are known from the White River between Norfork, Baxter County, and Batesville, Independence County, and from the Black River near the confluence of the Strawberry River. A robust population of more than 1,000 from a 1.7 mile stretch of the North Fork River in Missouri was reported as recently as 1973 (Peterson et al., 1983). While no records are known from the Current River in Arkansas, this species has been documented as far downstream as Doniphan, Missouri (K. J. Irwin, pers. comm.). A set of questionable records from near Fayetteville, Washington County (UAFMC 0068-0735-1837 from 1955), suggests this species may have historically populated the entire upper White River, before this river system was transformed into a series of large reservoirs.
