Siren (genus)

Siren is a genus of aquatic salamanders of the family Sirenidae. The genus consists of five living species, along with one extinct species from the Eocene Epoch and three from the Miocene.

The living species have elongated, eel-like bodies, with two small vestigial fore legs.

Siren intermedia, the lesser siren, has been seen as both a colonizer and a dominant species, in a single community, at two different succession stages. In Texas, during the 1970s, the species was found to have removed at least 283 individuals from a beaver pond, over a four year period.

Species

Extant (living) species include:

Siren intermedia Barnes, 1826 – lesser siren
Siren lacertina Linnaeus, 1766 – greater siren
Siren nettingi Goin, 1942 – western siren
Siren reticulata Graham, Kline, Steen & Kelehear, 2018 – reticulated siren or leopard eel
Siren sphagnicola Fedler, Enge & Moler, 2023 – seepage siren