Editing Hellbender (section)

{{Short description|Species of amphibian}}
{{About|amphibians|other uses}}
{{Speciesbox
| name = Hellbender
| fossil_range = <br />
{{longitem|style=line-height:1.25em|{{nowrap|[[Irvingtonian|Middle Pleistocene]] – [[Holocene|present]]}} {{nowrap|(~625,000–0 [[Before Present|YBP]])<ref name=Bredehoeft&Schubert2015>{{cite journal |last1=Bredehoeft |first1=Keila E. |last2=Schubert |first2=Blaine W. |year=2015 |title=A re-evaluation of the Pleistocene hellbender, ''Cryptobranchus guildayi ''|journal=[[Journal of Herpetology]] |volume=49 |pages=157–160 |s2cid=84731832 |doi=10.1670/12-222 }}</ref>}}}}
| status = VU
| status_system = IUCN3.1
| status_ref = <ref name=iucn>{{cite iucn |author=IUCN SSC Amphibian Specialist Group. |year=2022 |title=''Cryptobranchus alleganiensis'' |page=e.T59077A82473431 |doi=10.2305/IUCN.UK.2022-2.RLTS.T59077A82473431.en}}</ref>
| status2 = CITES_A3
| status2_system = CITES
| status2_ref = 
| image = Hellbender.jpg
| genus = Cryptobranchus
| parent_authority = [[Friedrich Sigismund Leuckart|Leuckart]], 1821
| species = alleganiensis
| authority = ([[François Marie Daudin|Daudin]], 1803)
| subdivision_ranks = Subspecies
| subdivision = *'''''C. a. alleganiensis''''' {{small|(Daudin, 1803)}}, eastern hellbender
*'''''C. a. bishopi''''' {{small|[[Arnold B. Grobman|Grobman]], 1943}}, Ozark hellbender
| range_map = Hellbender.png
| range_map_caption = {{legend0|#af3635|&nbsp;Range of eastern hellbender}}<br />(Ozark hellbender not shown)
| synonyms = {{Collapsible list|{{specieslist
|Salamandra alleganiensis |Daudin, 1803
|Salamandra horrida |[[Benjamin Smith Barton|Barton]], 1808
|Salamandra gigantea |Barton, 1808
|Salamandra maxima |Barton, 1808
|Molge gigantea |[[Blasius Merrem|Merrem]], 1820
|Cryptobranchus salamandroides |[[Friedrich Sigismund Leuckart|Leuckart]], 1821
|Urotropis mucronata |[[Constantine Samuel Rafinesque|Rafinesque]], 1822
|Abranchus alleghaniensis |[[Richard Harlan|Harlan]], 1825
|Protonopsis horrida |[[Daniel H. Barnes|Barnes]], 1826
|Salamandrops gigantea |[[Johann Georg Wagler|Wagler]], 1830
|Eurycea mucronata |Rafinesque, 1832
|Menopoma fuscum |[[John Edwards Holbrook|Holbrook]], 1842
|Cryptobranchus alleghaniensis |[[Edward Drinker Cope|Cope]], 1887
|Cryptobranchus alleganiensis |[[Leonhard Stejneger|Stejneger]] & [[Thomas Barbour|Barbour]], 1917
|Cryptobranchus terrasodactylus |[[Vera Wellborn|Wellborn]], 1936
|Cryptobranchus bishopi |[[Arnold B. Grobman|Grobman]], 1943
|Cryptobranchus guildayi |[[J. Alan Holman|Holman]], 1977
}} }}
| synonyms_ref = <ref>{{cite report |last=Dundee |first=Harold A. |year=1971 |section=Cryptobranchus alleganiensis |title=Catalogue of American Amphibians and Reptiles |publisher=[[American Society of Ichthyologists and Herpetologists]] |id=Account&nbsp;101 }}</ref><ref name=Nick/><ref>{{cite book |author1-link=Leonhard Stejneger |last1=Stejneger |first1=L. |author2-link=Thomas Barbour |last2=Barbour |first2=T. |year=1917 |title=A Check List of North American Amphibians and Reptiles |place=Cambridge, MA |publisher=Harvard University Press |section=Cryptobranchus alleganiensis |page=7 }}</ref>
}}

The '''hellbender''' ('''''Cryptobranchus alleganiensis'''''), also known as the '''hellbender salamander''', is a [[species]] of aquatic [[giant salamander]] [[Endemism|endemic]] to the eastern and central United States. It is the largest salamander in [[North America]]. A member of the [[Family (biology)|family]] [[Cryptobranchidae]], the hellbender is the only [[extant taxon|extant]] member of the genus ''Cryptobranchus''. Other closely related salamanders in the same family are in the genus ''[[Andrias]]'', which contains the [[Japanese giant salamander|Japanese]] and [[Chinese giant salamander]]s. The hellbender is much larger than any other salamander in its geographic range, and employs an unusual adaption for respiration through [[cutaneous gas exchange]] via [[capillaries]] found in its [[Anatomical terms of location#Medial and lateral|lateral]] skin folds. It fills a particular [[Niche (ecology)|niche]]—both as a [[predator]] and [[prey]]—in its [[ecosystem]], which either it or its ancestors have occupied for around 65&nbsp;million years. The species is listed as [[Vulnerable species|Vulnerable]] on the [[IUCN Red List of Threatened Species]] due to the impacts of disease and widespread habitat loss and degradation throughout much of its range.<ref name=iucn/>