Hellbender

• It breathes mainly through the wrinkled folds of skin along its sides rather than through working gills or lungs.
• It feeds mainly on crayfish, supplemented with fish, insects and other invertebrates.
• It needs cold, well-oxygenated water to survive, living under large stones in the streams and rivers of the eastern United States.
• fisiologíaIt breathes almost entirely through its skin, which folds along the sides to increase the surface for gas exchange.

Skeleton type

Vertebrate - internal bony skeleton (amphibian)

Habitat & environment

Clear, cold rocky streams and rivers of the eastern United States, under large stones

Birth weight

~3 cm long at hatching

Size at birth

~3 cm long at hatching

Sexual maturity

5-8 years

Gestation / incubation

~2 months of incubation, guarded by the male

Litter / clutch size

Hundreds of eggs per clutch

Lifespan in captivity

A documented record of up to 29 years in captivity (possibly over 50)

Sources consulted: Biological Diversity; SLELO PRISM; National Wildlife Federation; Virginia DWR; AnAge (genomics.senescence.info); Animal Diversity Web; PMC (Ozark hellbender egg production study); Wikipedia (Ozark hellbender)

Best time: From August to September in fast, clean rivers of the eastern United States, when the male guards the eggs beneath a slab in the channel.