Why Is It Called a Hellbender? Names of a Giant Salamander

Where does the name hellbender come from?

The origin of the name was never written down, so all explanations are guesses. The Missouri Department of Conservation sums up the main theories, and all of them point to the animal’s odd looks:

• Settlers thought it looked like a creature from hell, perhaps one that was “bent” on returning there.
• The rippling folds of loose skin along its sides reminded people of the tortures of the underworld.
• Its dark, slimy body and tiny eyes simply made it look sinister to anyone lifting a rock in a stream.

None of these can be proven. What is clear is that the name says far more about how people saw the animal than about the hellbender itself.

How old is the name?

The word is surprisingly old. In 1802 the French botanist François André Michaux traveled through the Holston River valley on the western side of the Appalachians and recorded that local people, including enslaved African American men he met, already called the giant salamander a hellbender. The name was therefore in everyday use before scientists had even described the species.

The first scientific description followed in 1803, when the French zoologist François Marie Daudin named it Salamandra alleganiensis. A few years later, in 1808, the American naturalist Benjamin Smith Barton gave it the names Salamandra horrida and Salamandra gigantea, which suggests that he, too, was struck by its size and fearsome appearance. Those later names were dropped under the rules of scientific naming, because Daudin’s came first.

Snot otter, devil dog and other nicknames

Few North American animals have collected as many colorful names as the hellbender. Most are local or regional, and several are shared with other aquatic salamanders such as the mudpuppy.

The German name, Schlammteufel, means “mud devil,” so the idea of a devilish creature of the mud is not unique to English. All these names are informal; scientists and wildlife agencies simply use “hellbender,” with “eastern hellbender” and “Ozark hellbender” for the two subspecies.

What does Cryptobranchus alleganiensis mean?

The scientific name is more descriptive than mysterious. Cryptobranchus comes from the Greek kryptos, “hidden,” and branchion, “gill.” Young hellbenders have external gills, but adults lose them and keep only a small slit on each side of the neck, so their gills appear to be hidden. In fact, adults breathe mostly through their wrinkly skin, as explained in How do hellbenders breathe?

The species name alleganiensis refers to the Allegheny region of the northern Appalachians, where the first specimens were found. The Ozark hellbender, Cryptobranchus alleganiensis bishopi, was described in 1943 and named in honor of the American herpetologist Sherman C. Bishop, an expert on salamanders.

Myths behind the scary names

A frightening name has fed some long-lasting myths, and they have harmed hellbenders.

Myth: hellbenders are venomous. Hellbenders have no venom glands or fangs. Their skin produces slime that predators find distasteful, but they pose no danger to people who leave them alone. Like most wild animals, they may bite if grabbed.

Myth: hellbenders are bad for fishing. For generations, many anglers believed hellbenders ate large numbers of game fish or their eggs, and some killed them on sight. In reality, hellbenders feed mainly on crayfish. Their presence is a sign of clean, cool, well-oxygenated water, the same conditions trout and other prized fish need.

Myth: hellbenders are lizards. Names like Allegheny alligator and lasagna lizard suggest a reptile, but the hellbender is an amphibian. It has smooth, moist skin without scales, and it lays soft eggs in water. The differences are explained in lizard vs salamander.

Names of the hellbender’s giant relatives

The hellbender’s closest living relatives, the giant salamanders of China and Japan, have colorful names of their own. In Chinese, the Chinese giant salamander is often called wawa yu, “baby fish,” because its calls are said to sound like a crying infant.

In Japan, the Japanese giant salamander is known as ōsanshōuo, “giant salamander,” and in some western regions as hanzaki. That folk name is often explained by a legend that the animal could survive even after being torn in half. Like “hellbender,” these names show how deeply these large, ancient-looking amphibians have caught people’s imagination.

From villain to mascot

Attitudes toward the hellbender have changed a great deal. Once dismissed as an ugly pest, it is now a symbol of clean rivers. Pennsylvania chose the eastern hellbender as its official state amphibian in 2019, and the nickname snot otter is now used affectionately in outreach programs that ask people to leave rocks and salamanders undisturbed in streams.