Cryptobranchus alleganiensis

Cryptobranchus is a member of the Cryptobranchidae, which also includes the largest amphibians in the world, the giant Japanese and Chinese salamanders of the genus Andrias. Feeding in these species is by suction, as in larval salamanders. Suction is produced by ventral movement of the throat. This movie shows a large Cryptobranchus alleganiensis, or Hellbender, snapping at air bubbles. You can see the outlines of the throat skeleton, the hyobranchial apparatus, quite well through the loose skin. This movie plays at only 1/100 of actual speed!

See our research paper on this salamander:

Deban, S.M. and J.C. O’Reilly. 2005. The ontogeny of feeding kinematics in the giant salamander Cryptobranchus alleganiensis: does current function or phylogenetic relatedness predict the scaling patterns of movement? Zoology 108: 155-167.