Hellbender
| Hellbender Temporal range: - Present,0.85–0 Ma |
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| Scientific classification | |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Class: | Amphibia |
| Order: | Urodela |
| Family: | Cryptobranchidae |
| Genus: |
Cryptobranchus Leuckart, 1821 |
| Species: | C. alleganiensis |
| Binomial name | |
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Cryptobranchus alleganiensis (Daudin, 1803) |
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| Distribution of the eastern hellbender (Ozark hellbender not shown) | |
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The hellbender (Cryptobranchus alleganiensis), also known as the hellbender salamander, is a species of aquatic giant salamander endemic to eastern North America. A member of the family Cryptobranchidae, hellbenders are the only members of the genus Cryptobranchus, and are joined only by one other genus of salamanders (Andrias, which contains the Japanese and Chinese giant salamanders) at the family level. These salamanders are much larger than any others in their range, they employ an unusual means of respiration (which involves cutaneous gas exchange through capillaries found in their dorsoventral skin folds), and they fill a particular niche—both as a predator and prey—in their ecosystems, which either they or their ancestors have occupied for around 65 million years. The species is listed as Near Threatened.
The origin of the name "hellbender" is unclear. The Missouri Department of Conservation says:
The name 'hellbender' probably comes from the animal's odd look. One theory claims the hellbender was named by settlers who thought "it was a creature from hell where it's bent on returning." Another rendition says the undulating skin of a hellbender reminded observers of "horrible tortures of the infernal regions." In reality, it's a harmless aquatic salamander.
Vernacular names include "snot otter", "devil dog", "mud-devil", "grampus", "Allegheny alligator", "mud dog", "water dog", and "leverian water newt". The genus name is derived from the Ancient Greek kryptos (hidden) and branchion (gill).
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Wikipedia