[see video here]

View distribution map using BerkeleyMapper.

	Conservation Status (definitions)
IUCN (Red List) Status	Near Threatened (NT) See IUCN account.
NatureServe Status	Use NatureServe Explorer to see status.
CITES	No CITES Listing
Other International Status	None
National Status	Endangered under the U.S. Endangered Species Act (ESA)
Regional Status	None

Description
The largest salamander in North America. This completely aquatic species reaches adult sizes of 24 to 40 cm snout to vent length (30-74 cm total length) (Dundee and Dundee 1965; Dundee 1971; Petranka 1998). These salamanders are excessively slimy and are dorso-ventrally flattened. The head is broad and the eyes are tiny and lidless. The large, paddle-like tail is laterally compressed. The skin is loose and wrinkled. The limbs have flaps on the posterior edges, and there is a floppy lateral fold of skin. Adults have a single gill slit on either side of the head and lack external gills. Larvae are stream type with small gills and a low tail fin. Hatchlings are are 25-33 mm total length. The limbs are incompletely developed at hatching (Dundee 1971; Nickerson and Mays 1973; Petranka 1998).

Adult coloration is greenish, yellowish brown or slate gray with black spots or blotches (Petranka 1998). Two subspecies are recognized based on differences in geographic distribution (see below) and coloration. Cryptobranchus a. alleganiensis, the eastern hellbender, has small dark spots dorsally and a uniformly colored chin. Cryptobranchus a. bishopi, the Ozark hellbender, has larger black blotches dorsally and a darkly mottled chin region. The spiracle opening is also smaller in C. a. bishopi (Dundee and Dundee 1965; Dundee 1971; Nickerson and Mays 1973; Petranka 1998). Small larvae are uniformly dark dorsally with a white venter. Older larvae have dark spots dorsally and pigmented venters (Petranka 1998).

Distribution and Habitat

Country distribution from AmphibiaWeb's database: United States

U.S. state distribution from AmphibiaWeb's database: Alabama, Arkansas, Georgia, Illinois, Indiana, Kentucky, Maryland, Missouri, Mississippi, North Carolina, New York, Pennsylvania, South Carolina, Tennessee, Virginia, West Virginia

View distribution map using BerkeleyMapper.

Hellbenders occur from New York to northern Alabama and extreme northeastern Mississippi, and westward to central and southern Missouri and northern Arkansas (Petranka 1998). Principally associated with tributaries of the Ohio and Tennessee rivers west of the Appalachian Mountains. Disjunct populations occur in the Susquehanna River (New York, Pennsylvania), the upper Savannah River (Georgia), and tributaries of the Missouri and Black rivers (Missouri, northern Arkansas) (Dundee 1971). Cryptobranchus a. alleganiensis occurs in central Missouri and from southern New York south to northern Alabama and a small portion of Mississippi. Cryptobranchus a. bishopi ocurs in southern Missouri and adjoining portions of Arkansas (Petranka 1998).

The preferred habitat is large streams and rivers with fast-flowing water and a rocky substrate. Individuals are most easily found under large boulders. Water temperature is usually cold (20º C, sometimes as high as 25-30º C) and fairly constant through the year (Dundee 1971; Petranka 1998).

Life History, Abundance, Activity, and Special Behaviors
Hellbenders usually breed in the late summer and early fall (September), but eastern hellbenders may breed two months or more earlier than Ozark hellbenders (Dundee and Dundee 1965; Nickerson and Mays 1973; Peterson 1988). Hellbenders form breeding aggregations in and around nest sites, such as burrows in streamside banks or under large rocks. Males compete for access to mates (Nickerson and Mays 1973; Peterson 1988). Similar mating behavior has been observed in Andrias japonicus, the Japanese giant salamander, another member of the family Cryptobranchidae (Kawamichi and Ueda 1998). Fertilization is external, and chemical cues may be important in courtship and mating (Peterson 1988). Nests have been found containing from 138 - 334 eggs, and a female laid 200 eggs in captivity. Females may share oviposition sites, and over 1900 eggs have been found in a single nest. Males tend the eggs after oviposition and fertilization, and they guard against egg predation by conspecifics (Petranka 1998). Hatching occurs in late fall after a developmental period of 45 - 75 days, depending on locality (Peterson 1998; Petranka 1998).

Hellbenders forage at night, sometimes on overcast days, and they retreat to crevices under rocks during the day (Nickerson and Mays 1973). The diet is varied including crayfish, small fish, mollusks, and worms. The slime produced by these animals is noxious to many predators, but they are occasionally preyed upon by large fish, turtles and water snakes. Eggs and larvae are frequently eaten by conspecifics. See Petranka (1998) for references. Hellbender densities have been estimated at over 400 animals/km of stream, and up to 10 animals/100 m² (Nickerson and Mays 1973; Peterson 1988). Hellbenders are fairly long-lived and may reach ages of 20-30 years in the wild (Petranka 1998).

Trends and Threats
Siltation and pollution, including thermal pollution, are threats to populations of C. alleganiensis (Dundee 1971; Petranka 1998).

Relation to Humans
Many fisherman consider hellbenders to be poisonous and will cut their line rather than unhook them (Conant and Collins 1991). Native Americans traditionally used this species as a food source (Petranka 1998).

Comments
Some authors have suggested that the two currently recognized supspecies should be treated as separate species. The ranges apparently do not contact, and the morphological differences suggest reproductive isolation and absence of gene flow between the forms (Collins 1991).

Video of Indiana fauna in the wild, including Cryptobranchus alleganiensis.

Blue River, Indiana from Ravenswood Media on Vimeo.

View a different video of C. alleganiensis feeding.

Featured in Amazing Amphibians on March 25, 2013

References
 

Collins, J. T. (1991). "A new taxonomic arrangement for some North American amphibians and reptiles." Herpetological Review, 22, 42-43.  

Conant, R. and Collins, J. T. (1991). A Field Guide to Reptiles and Amphibians: Eastern/Central North America. Houghton Mifflin, Boston.  

Dundee, H. A. (1971). ''Cryptobranchus, and C. alleganiensis.'' Catalogue of American Amphibians and Reptiles. Society for the Study of Amphibians and Reptiles, 101.1-101.4.  

Dundee, H. A., and Dundee, D. S. (1965). ''Observations on the systematics and ecology of Cryptobranchus from the Ozark Plateaus of Missouri and Arkansas.'' Copeia, 1965(3), 369-370.  

Kawamichi, T. and Ueda, H. (1998). ''Spawning at nests of extra-large males in the Giant Salamander Andrias japonicus.'' Journal of Herpetology, 32, 133-136.  

Nickerson, M. A., and Mays, C. E. (1973). The Hellbenders: North American ''Giant Salamanders''. Milwaukee Public Museum, Milwaukee, WI.  

Peterson, C. L. (1988). "Breeding activities of the hellbender in Missouri." Herpetological Review, 19, 28-29.  

Petranka, J. W. (1998). Salamanders of the United States and Canada. Smithsonian Institution Press, Washington and London.

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