Hellbender

Hellbender Temporal range: Pleistocene–Present,[1] 0.85–0 Ma PreꞒ Ꞓ O S D C P T J K Pg N ↓
Conservation status
Vulnerable  (IUCN 3.1)[2]
CITES Appendix III (CITES)[3]
Scientific classification
Domain:	Eukaryota
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Chordata
Class:	Amphibia
Order:	Urodela
Family:	Cryptobranchidae
Genus:	Cryptobranchus Leuckart, 1821
Species:	C. alleganiensis
Binomial name
Cryptobranchus alleganiensis (Daudin, 1803)
Subspecies
C. a. alleganiensis (Daudin, 1803), eastern hellbender C. a. bishopi Grobman, 1943, Ozark hellbender
Distribution of the eastern hellbender (Ozark hellbender not shown)
Synonyms
List Salamandra alleganiensis Daudin, 1803 Salamandra horrida Barton, 1808 Salamandra gigantea Barton, 1808 Salamandra maxima Barton, 1808 Molge gigantea — Merrem, 1820 Cryptobranchus salamandroides Leuckart, 1821 Urotropis mucronata Rafinesque, 1822 Abranchus alleghaniensis [sic] Harlan, 1825 Protonopsis horrida — Barnes, 1826 Salamandrops gigantea — Wagler, 1830 Eurycea mucronata Rafinesque, 1832 Menopoma fuscum Holbrook, 1842 Cryptobranchus alleghaniensis [sic] — Cope, 1887 Cryptobranchus alleganiensis — Stejneger & Barbour, 1917 Cryptobranchus terrasodactylus Wellborn, 1936 Cryptobranchus bishopi Grobman, 1943 Cryptobranchus guildayi Holman, 1977

The hellbender (Cryptobranchus alleganiensis), also known as the hellbender salamander, is a species of aquatic giant salamander endemic to the eastern and central United States. It is the largest salamander in North America. A member of the family Cryptobranchidae, the hellbender is the only extant member of the genus Cryptobranchus. Other closely related salamanders in the same family are in the genus Andrias, which contains the Japanese and Chinese giant salamanders. The hellbender, which is much larger than all other salamanders in its geographic range, employs an unusual means of respiration (which involves cutaneous gas exchange through capillaries found in its lateral skin folds), and fills a particular niche—both as a predator and prey—in its ecosystem, which either it or its ancestors have occupied for around 65 million years. The species is listed as Vulnerable on the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species due to the impacts of disease and widespread habitat loss and degradation throughout much of its range.^[2]