Horny sheaths cover the jaws. The Lesser Siren inhabits North Carolina's coastal plain, in the quiet, weed-choked waters of swamps, ditches and ponds. Spawning occurs in early spring, females depositing approximately 200 eggs in a depression on the bottom of a pond. Adults communicate by clicking sounds resulting from their jaws snapping together. Larvae measure 11mm at hatch, having orange or red stripes mid-dorsal, lateral, ventrolateral.
Stripes disappear at about one year of age.