THE HELLBENDER, OR MENOPOMA 



369 



THE FAMILY OF AMPHIUM AS. 



Amphiumidae. 



Unfortunately there is no English name which 

 properly applies to the members of this Family. 

 Some are like salamanders, and some are like 

 eels; but none are "fish-like" salamanders, as 

 they are sometimes called. In the perfect state 

 they are without gills, the gill-clefts being in a 

 vanishing stage, either reduced to a pair of small 

 holes, or totally absent. Both jaws are pro- 

 vided with teeth, but the eyes are without 

 lids. 



This Family consists of two 

 genera and three species, two 

 of which are found in the 

 United States, the other in 

 Japan. 



The Hellbender, or Meno- 

 poma, 1 is one of the ugliest 

 looking creatures on this con- 

 tinent. When fully adult it is 

 from 18 to 20 inches in length, 

 its head and body are much 

 flattened, while its tail is flat- 

 tened vertically and complete- 

 ly finned. Its legs and feet 

 are short and thick, and all 

 along the middle of each side 

 is a wide, convoluted fold of 

 skin. 



Its color is a uniform dull 

 brown, accentuated by a few 

 dark blotches of very irregular 

 shape. On the left side there 

 is a gill opening, but on the 

 right there is none; and there 

 are four pairs of gill-arches. 

 The skin is smooth, but the head bears many 

 wart-like tubercles. 



This unpleasing animal is found in many of 

 the streams that flow into the Ohio River, and 

 the Mississippi also, but it is most abundant 

 in Pennsylvania, especially in streams whose 

 sources are in the Alleghanies. In its food habits 

 it is very voracious, feeding upon worms, min- 

 nows and crayfish, and often taking the hooks of 

 fishermen in quest of that most repulsive of all 

 American fishes, the catfish. Fishermen hate 



1 Cryp-to-bran' chus (or Men-o-po'ma) al-le-gha-ni- 

 en'su 



the Hellbender; but between catfish and Hell- 

 bender there would seem to be small choice. 



The Hellbender is very tenacious of life, and 

 it is said that it can live on land for twenty-four 

 hours without perishing. On this point, Mr. 

 William Frear offers the following testimony: 



"One specimen, about eighteen inches in 

 length, which had lain on the ground exposed 

 to a summer sun for forty-eight hours, was 

 brought to the museum, and left lying a day 

 longer before it was placed in alcohol. The day 

 following, desiring to note a few points of struet- 



Drawn by J. Carter Beard. 



THE CONGO " SNAKE," OR EEL-LIKE SALAMANDER. 



ure, I removed it from the alcohol in which it 

 had been completely submerged for at least 

 twenty hours, and had no sooner placed it on the 

 table than it began to open its big mouth, vigor- 

 ously sway its tail to and fro, and give other un- 

 doubted signs of vitality." 



The Giant Salamander, 2 of Japan, is a brother 

 species to the Hellbender, but is very much larger. 

 It is the largest of all the amphibians, and some- 

 times attains a length of three feet. Specimens 

 may always be seen in the Reptile House of the 

 Zoological Park. 



2 Cryp-to-bran' chits max'i-mus. 



