THE LIFE HISTORY AND HABITS OF CRYPTO- 

 BRANCHUS ALLEGHENIENSIS. 1 



BERTRAM G. SMITH. 

 (Contributions from the Zoological Laboratory of the University of Michigan, No. 109. ) 



I. Historical. 



In spite of persistent attempts to work out the natural history 

 of the giant salamander, Cryptobranchiis alleglieniensis, the habits, 

 particularly the breeding habits, have remained little known. 

 Very little has been learned about the development of the eggs, 

 and the larvae have not been described. 



The first account is that of Townsend ('82) and consists of 

 brief notes on the behavior and feeding habits, with a general 

 description of some eggs deposited in August. McGregor ('97) 

 described very briefly an embryo 16 mm. in length. Reese ('03) 

 discussed principally the size, coloration, movements and feeding 

 habits of the adults, and recorded his persistent attempts to obtain 

 embryological material. In a later paper ('04), he gave the first 

 accurate description of the unfertilized eggs. 



Recently ('06 2 ) I published a detailed description of the eggs 

 and spermatozoa, and an account of the early stages of the 

 development, with some incomplete observations on the breeding 

 habits. The material for this paper was secured during the fall 

 of 1905. 



During the months of August and September, 1906, in north- 

 western Pennsylvania, I devoted my entire time to the study of 

 Cryptobranchiis, with the object of securing a knowledge of its 

 habits, and material for the study of its development. The pur- 

 pose of the present paper is to record the results of this work 

 so far as they contribute to a general account of the natural his- 

 tory of the animal. 



1 The writer is indebted to the Elizabeth Thompson Science Fund for Grant No. 



no. 



