526 POPULAR SCIENCE MONTHLY. 



THE HABITS OF THE GIANT SALAMANDEE. 



By De. ALBERT M. REESE, 



SYRACUSE UNIVERSITY. 



CEYPTOBEANCHUS (Menopoma of the earlier text-books) 

 Alleghaniensis or hellbender, the American representative of the 

 giant salamanders, although only too familiar to the fishermen of the 

 Ohio valley is, to most people, rather a curiosity and its habits, there- 

 for are worthy of some attention. 



Its distribution, according to most authors, is limited to the tribu- 

 taries of the Ohio Eiver, but whether or not this is strictly true I am 

 unable to state. I have investigated several cases of the supposed 

 occurrence of Cryptobranchus in waters far distant from the Ohio, but 

 in each instance the animal in question proved to be Necturus. By 

 the natives of the regions it inhabits, the hellbender is called 'alligator' 

 or, occasionally, ' waterdog ' : it is easy to imagine how the f ormer name 

 might have originated, but why it should be called a 'dog' is as hard 

 to imagine as the reason for calling Necturusa 'mud-puppy.' The 

 hellbender is said to reach a length of more than 60 cm., the largest 

 specimen that I obtained, from a considerable number of individuals, 

 was 55 cm. in length. It is a most unprepossessing animal, and, prob- 

 ably on that account, has the reputation, among fisherman, of being 

 poisonous, although it is really a most inoffensive and harmless crea- 

 ture. I have handled many dozen individuals, some of which were 

 just from their native stream and some of which I have had in captivity 

 for more than eight months, but in no instance has any attempt been 

 made to bite. Its jaws are very wide and strong, however, and being 

 armed with numerous small, sharp teeth, are probably capable of inflict- 

 ing a painful wound. Its repulsive appearance seems to be largely 

 due to the curious flatness of the head, the tiny, almost invisible, lidless 

 eyes and the lateral folds of skin which extend for the greater part of its 

 length. 



The tips of the toes, of which there are four on the anterior 

 and five on the posterior feet, are nearly white and are thus in curious 

 contrast to the dark color of the rest of the animal. 



The adult hellbender breathes by means of well-developed lungs, 

 but there is a gill opening in each side of the throat, from which bubbles 

 of air occasionally escape. The nostrils are two very small openings 

 situated at the extreme tip of the broad snout, so that when the animal 

 comes to the surface to breathe, it need expose but the tip of its snout 

 above water. The process of inspiration, if it may be so called, is 



