Professional Documents
Culture Documents
Hellbender
A Hellbender Salamander (an amphibian) surprisingly
grows up to 1324 inches. The amphibian has wrinkly skin
and is completely aquatic. The Hellbender is a large
salamander that comes in different colors. The most
common color is brown. Hellbenders breath through their
wrinkly skin. They have a lot of fleshy folds, which act as
gills, along the sides of their bodies. The folds provide
extra surface area to extract air from the water. It has a flat
tail, head, and body so it can maneuver around rocks and
obstacles.
Habitat
Hellbenders usually live under large rocks or boulders that
are halfway under water. Hellbenders live mainly alone.
They live in Missouri, Arkansas, New York, Georgia,
Kentucky, Indiana, Illinois, and Ohio.
Needs and Behavior
The Hellbenders basic needs are rocks for shelter, water
for survival, and they usually eat crayfish but there have
been discoveries that they also eat insects, tadpoles and
even other small animals like other Hellbenders.
Young Hellbenders have predators such as fish, turtles,
water snakes, and other Hellbenders. Adults have very
few predators but may be consumed by a racoon, mink, or
river otter. Hellbenders are omnivores because they eat
other small animals. Hellbenders are near the middle top
of the food chain. They can be aggressive toward other
animals.They are endangered and being protected by the
endangered wildlife foundation all over the USA because
of habitat loss.
Interesting Facts
There are two subspecies of Hellbenders. The Eastern
Hellbenders scientific name is crypto branches
allaganiensis allaganiensis and the Ozark Hellbender is
cryptobranchus allaganiensis bishopi. Some interesting
facts about the Hellbenders are that they can live 2530
years in the wild. They have tiny eyes on their head to see
although not very well but have light sensitive cells on their
bodies and tails to help keep their bodies hidden under
rocks. They walk under water using their sturdy limbs and
toes. Hellbenders females lay eggs in the males’ burrow.
Then the male drives the female out and protects the
eggs. Hellbenders can also be known as snot otter, devil
dog, mud devil, grampus, and Allegheny Alligator.
The Hellbender has many unique characteristics and
abilities. Hopefully, the Hellbender will be able to
repopulate and come off of the endangered species list
someday.
References
Hellbender, Encyclopedia of Life. Accessed May 18, 2016
at http: // eol.org/pages/331124/overview.
Http://www.wired.com/2015/02/creaturefeaturefunfacts
hellbendefs/
Http://www.nature.org/newfeatures/specialfeatures/ani,als/
amphibians/hellbendersalamanderfacts.xml