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What features distinguish hellbenders from other salamanders?
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Caudata
Tiger salamanders (Ambystoma tigrinum) are widespread across much of the United States. Although they are generally black with yellow blotches, bars, spots, or even stripes, some are lighter in colour or have olive markings. Tiger salamanders belong to the mole salamander family, Ambystomatidae.
Hellbenders (Cryptobranchus alleganiensis) are distinguished from many other salamanders by several unique physical and biological characteristics:
- Respiration: While adults possess lungs, they rely primarily on cutaneous respiration (breathing through their skin). To facilitate this, they feature conspicuous, wrinkled fleshy folds along their bodies and legs, which significantly increase their surface area for oxygen intake.1
- Larval Traits: Unlike many salamanders that lose their larval features upon reaching maturity, hellbenders retain a gill slit on each side of the head behind the eyes.1
- Reproduction: Hellbenders belong to the suborder Cryptobranchoidea, which is characterized by external fertilization. This contrasts with the majority of other salamander species, which typically utilize internal fertilization via a spermatophore.23
- Morphology: They are large, stout-bodied, and flat-headed, with a broad, rudder-like tail fin. They lack the lacrimal and septomaxillary bones in the skull found in other families.142
- Habitat: They are strictly aquatic, inhabiting swift-flowing streams in the eastern and central United States, where they hide under stones during the day.15