| The Mysterious, Magical and Ancient Hellbender |
| by Crede Calhoun Chief Guide for All Earth Eco Tours |
| Years ago, my future wife (Carol) and I were paddling on the lower
Youghiogheny River in Pennsylvania. We had just finished running the
rapid named Bottle of Wine and were floating through the large flat pool
below, just up from the popular jump rock. Suddenly yet slowly a brown
log about 2 feet long begin to wiggle slowly and steadily towards the
surface between us. It was the color of the surrounding rocks, sort of a
brown tannish color, and this peculiar log was wrinkled with a deep
furrowed bark. Most interesting was that it appeared to be slowly
swimming to the surface. It wiggled in a slow motion way that made it
appear ancient and in no hurry.
As it finally reached the surface we realized it was animal! It broached the surface of the water and took a long breath, and as it did we could see its dark brown eyes, short stumpy legs and equally wrinkled and very thick tale. Like a creature from prehistoric times we realized that we had just experienced a rare daytime encounter with a rare, elusive and threatened inhabitant of Central Appalachian rivers, The HELLBENDER! ( Cryp- tobranchus alleganiensis)
According to an official description. "Despite the implications of its common name, this giant salamander is a harmless creature which feeds on crayfish, snails and worms. It has the flattened head characteristic of its family and loose flaps of skin along the lower sides of its body. A nocturnal salamander, the hellbender hides under rocks in the water during the day. It depends on its senses of smell and touch, rather than on sight, to find its prey, since its eyes are set so far down the sides of its head that it cannot focus on an object with both eyes at once. Hellbenders are one of the largest salamanders in the world!
Hellbenders breed in autumn: the male makes a hollow beneath a rock or log on the stream bed, and the female lays strings of 200 to 500 eggs. As she lays the eggs, the male fertilizes them and then guards the nest until the eggs hatch 2 or 3 months later. " When we returned home our curiosity about Maryland Hellbenders increased and as we researched we realized how lucky we had been to spot one in the wild, and especially how lucky we had been to spot one of such and enormous size and in the daylight (they are normally nocturnal). We also learned of a documented nesting pair that has been breeding in the Bear Creek stream in our town of Friendsville for many years.
Hellbender Researchers weigh, catalog and tag Hellbenders. We also learned that Hellbenders are listed as a Federal Species of Concern, and in Maryland they are considered endangered. These days Hellbenders can only be found in the mountain streams and rivers of Garrett County, although historically they were found in the Susquehanna drainage in Cecil and Hartford counties.
There are many factors affecting hellbender populations, including stream siltation, damming of rivers, collecting, and pollution. These factors affect the quality of the water, which hellbenders are very sensitive to. Changes in temperature, oxygen, flow rate, and sediment build up can alter the habitat enough to make it unfavorable to support hellbender populations.
We also discovered that- " When the eggs hatch, the larvae that emerge are less than an inch long. During the larval stage, the animals breathe through feathery gills on the side of their head. The larval stage lasts for about two years, during which time a larval hellbender grows to four or five inches long. At this stage, hellbenders reabsorb their feathery gills and breathe through the many folds of their loose skin. They don't reach sexual maturity until they are about 14 to 15 inches long, which usually takes from five to eight years. Hellbenders may live 55 years in captivity, but in the wild their maximum life expectancy is 30 to 35 years." These amazing creatures do live in Garrett County and their habitat is threatened. Numbers have decreased significantly in years and some collection efforts have yielded specimens with deformities. Hellbenders with their aquatic environment are very susceptible to pollution, and researchers suspect water impurities are causing the deformities. Do what you can to protect water from pollution and report any hellbender sightings or encounters. What You Can Do To Help You can help the hellbender and the people who are trying to save them. * Report Maryland hellbender sightings to. Mt. Nebo WMA News: The 2007 Hellbender Symposium is coming up this summer, June 10-13 in Wheeling, West Virginia. Anyone with an interest in hellbender conservation or watershed protection is urged to attend. Register
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| Amphibians of Maryland |
Hellbender Links
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