Hellbender

Cryptobranchus alleganiensis

Amphibian

Transcript:

Today on Animal Fact Files we’re discussing hellbenders. Hellbenders are also known as ‘mud devils,’ ‘snot otters,’ ‘lasagna lizards,’ and more! These fun common names might be in reference to how hellbenders look and where hellbenders live. These are the largest living salamanders in North America and the third largest living salamanders in the world. They can grow to be more than two feet in length (61cm) and weigh over two pounds (907g). Hellbenders are only found in the Appalachian Mountain range of North America, making them endemic to this region. There is currently one described species of hellbender that is divided into two subspecies: the eastern hellbender and the Ozark hellbender. The Ozark hellbender is listed as endangered while the eastern hellbender is listed as near threatened as of this recording.

Hellbenders are fully aquatic salamanders meaning they spend their entire lives in water. Other salamanders may take to land in their adult stage, such as the tiger salamander, but hellbenders remain submerged their entire lives. Because of this, they need clean water. Hellbenders gather oxygen through their skin, which is why they have those lasagna noodle-like flaps along their bodies. This gives their bodies more surface area and more opportunity to gather oxygen from the water. If the water is poor quality, it may not contain enough oxygen or it may cause pollutants to seep through the hellbender’s skin.

Though they’re called mud devils, hellbenders prefer rocky bottom habitats. These bottom-dwellers can be found in rivers, streams, creeks, and other oxygenated water systems that average about 48 to 73 degrees Fahrenheit (9-22.5 degrees Celsius) year round. Hellbenders use large, flat rocks, logs, and other objects to hide under during the day. At night, they come out to hunt. A staple of the hellbender’s diet is the crayfish - though some viewers may call these crawfish or crawdads. They’re kind of like freshwater lobsters. Other prey to hellbenders include fish, insects, and other small amphibians.

Hellbenders get the name snot otter because they produce a mucus on their skin which makes them slippery to hold and can be irritating to predators. Adult hellbenders are so large they’re typically left alone, however, hellbender larvae may be eaten by larger fish like bass and trout as well as other hellbenders! This is why hellbender dads protect their nests.

Hellbenders don’t begin breeding until about five to eight years of age. Besides meeting up for breeding, hellbenders are solitary creatures. A male will find a nesting site, usually under a rock or other object, and entice females into his den. Once inside, she’ll lay her eggs and he will fertilize them externally. Sometimes they eat a few eggs, as a treat, but overall a hellbender nest can contain anywhere from 100 to nearly 2,000 eggs. The female will leave shortly after, potentially to find another male’s nest in which to lay more eggs, but the male sticks around for the next 45 to 75 days until the babies hatch. Hellbender larvae hatch from their eggs with no limbs, external gills, and a yolk sac to nourish them. They disperse shortly after hatching because their father may start to see them as snacks. Unlike axolotls who never lose their external gills, hellbender gills are no longer obvious once they reach about two years of age. In the wild, these salamanders can live to be 30 years old, though the average is closer to 15 due to high rates of juvenile predation.

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