Eastern Hellbender, New York's Largest Salamander
Thank you to the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation for this great article. The entire article can be seen at http://www.dec.ny.gov/pubs/99830.html
Did You Know??
• Eastern hellbenders can grow up to 29 inches in length and live up to 30 years.
• They have several loose flaps of thick, wrinkled skin that run laterally along either side, and serve a respiratory function.
• They are aquatic throughout their life and remain active year-round.
• They spend the daylight hours in a den beneath large slabs of rock or other shelter (such as logs and boards) on the bottom of streams or rivers.
• Hellbenders become active after dark, leaving shelter to forage, feeding primarily on crayfish, fish, frogs and a variety of invertebrates.
• Courtship and breeding begin in late summer. Sexually mature salamanders migrate to, and
congregate within, certain areas to breed.
• Males excavate a large nest chamber beneath a rock in preparation for breeding in late summer. After mating, the males kick out the females and remain in the nest cavity to brood and safeguard the eggs until they hatch 68-75 days later (in November).
• Eastern hellbenders can grow up to 29 inches in length and live up to 30 years.
• They have several loose flaps of thick, wrinkled skin that run laterally along either side, and serve a respiratory function.
• They are aquatic throughout their life and remain active year-round.
• They spend the daylight hours in a den beneath large slabs of rock or other shelter (such as logs and boards) on the bottom of streams or rivers.
• Hellbenders become active after dark, leaving shelter to forage, feeding primarily on crayfish, fish, frogs and a variety of invertebrates.
• Courtship and breeding begin in late summer. Sexually mature salamanders migrate to, and
congregate within, certain areas to breed.
• Males excavate a large nest chamber beneath a rock in preparation for breeding in late summer. After mating, the males kick out the females and remain in the nest cavity to brood and safeguard the eggs until they hatch 68-75 days later (in November).