Global InformationOzark hellbender information
| Ozark hellbender | |
|---|---|
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Conservation status
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 Critically Imperiled (NatureServe)[1] | |
 Endangered (ESA)[2][3] | |
Scientific classification 
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| Domain: | Eukaryota |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Class: | Amphibia |
| Order: | Urodela |
| Family: | Cryptobranchidae |
| Genus: | Cryptobranchus |
| Species: | C. alleganiensis
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| Subspecies: | C. a. bishopi
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| Trinomial name | |
| Cryptobranchus alleganiensis bishopi Grobman, 1943
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| Distribution map of the Ozark hellbender | |
The Ozark hellbender (Cryptobranchus alleganiensis bishopi) is a subspecies of the hellbender (Cryptobranchus alleganiensis). The subspecies is strictly native to the mountain streams of the Ozark Plateau in southern Missouri and northern Arkansas.[4] Its nicknames include lasagna lizard and snot otter.[5] This large salamander grows to a total length (including tail) of 29–57 cm (11–22 in) over a lifespan of 30 years.[6] The Ozark hellbender is a nocturnal predator that hides under large flat rocks and primarily consumes crayfish and small fish. As of 2011, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS) has listed the subspecies as endangered under the Endangered Species Act of 1973.[3] The population decline of the subspecies is caused by habitat destruction and modification, overutilization, disease and predation, and low reproductive rates.[7] Conservation programs have been put in place to help protect the subspecies.[8][7]
- ^ NatureServe (5 April 2024). "Cryptobranchus alleganiensis bishopi". NatureServe Network Biodiversity Location Data accessed through NatureServe Explorer. Arlington, Virginia: NatureServe. Retrieved 19 April 2024.
- ^ "Ozark Hellbender (Cryptobranchus alleganiensis bishopi)". Environmental Conservation Online System. U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service. Retrieved 19 April 2024.
- ^ a b Endangered and Threatened Wildlife and Plants; Endangered Status for the Ozark Hellbender Salamander, 76 Fed. Reg. 61956 (Oct. 6, 2011) (to be codified at 50 C.F.R. pt 17).
- ^ Nickerson, M.A., and C.E. Mays. 1973. The hellbenders: North American giant salamanders. Milwaukee Public Museum Publications in Biology and Geology 1:1−106.
- ^ "VIDEO: Snot Otters Get A Second Chance In Ohio". NPR.org. Retrieved 2020-04-20.
- ^ Dundee, H.A., and D.S. Dundee. 1965. Observations on the systematics and ecology of Cryptobranchus from the Ozark plateaus of Missouri and Arkansas. Copeia 1965:369−370.
- ^ a b U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. 2012. Recovery Outline for the Ozark Hellbender. Columbia, Missouri. 13 pp.
- ^ A., Rachel, et al. “Quantitative Behavioral Analysis of First Successful Captive Breeding of Endangered Ozark Hellbenders.” Frontiers, Frontiers, 14 Nov. 2018, www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fevo.2018.00205/full.