Salamanders - Order Caudata

Eastern Hellbender  Cryptobranchus a. alleganiensis

 

Hellbenders in Ohio are restricted to a few high quality streams and rivers that are part of the Ohio River watershed.  They are a state endangered species, but adults can be somewhat locally common in a few remaining streams with adequate water quality.  Juveniles and nesting activity have proved hard to document though and it is unclear how much breeding activity is currently taking place.  These animals seem to have disappeared from other seemingly clean streams where they had been previously found in Ohio.  Other streams that historically held hellbenders, have obviously been negatively affected by habitat alteration. 

 

I am most familiar with the alteration of the Hocking River.  Hellbenders were found as recently as the '80s near the town of Athens, but since the river was rerouted and widened by the Army Corp of Engineers, the water has become slow and stagnant with significantly increased silt.  The historic location is a section of extremely deep, rocky, rapids, that is almost now a small waterfall.  This location is frequented by fisherman, and it was the fisherman who are responsible for the few specimens that came from this site.  Unfortunately, no hellbenders have since been reported and the significant changes to the stream seem to be related.  Habitat upriver from the rerouting seems to still have the possibility of containing animals.  However, this area has been heavily mined in the past and the quality of the water seems to be greatly diminished due to acid mine drainage. 

 

Agricultural runoff may also be contributing to the demise of these great beasts.  Land is often cleared for farming right up to the sides of creeks.  Chemicals are easily washed into the streams during rains, as well as the increased erosion from the banks of the streams.

 

There is a possibility that some animals are hanging on in harder to reach areas that may have deeper water and are more difficult to survey.  I can only hope this is true, as it seems these giants of the deep are quickly disappearing throughout most of their historic range in Ohio, and elsewhere.

 

The name "hellbender" actually has very recent origins.  Other historical, or local vernacular names, include snot otter (my favorite), Allegheny Alligator and devil dog.  Hellbenders are often confused by their more common cousins, the mudpuppy.  Mudpuppies are easy to identify because of the presence of external gills.