Propagation of Eastern Hellbenders Cryptobranchus alleganiensis alleganiensis in a Recirculating Aquaculture System at Shepherd of the Hills State Fish Hatchery

Abstract

The hellbender Cryptobranchus alleganiensis is an endangered aquatic salamander inhabiting coldwater streams within the Ozark Highlands of Missouri. Over the past few decades, there has been a severe decline in the populations of the two subspecies of hellbender in this region—the Eastern hellbender C. a. alleganiensis and the Ozark hellbender C. a. bishopi—accompanied by little to no recruitment of young age‐classes; projections now call for negative long‐term population growth for both subspecies. Captive propagation is thus considered essential for the long‐term recovery of this species in Missouri, along with addressing the causes for its decline in the wild. Since 2007, Shepherd of the Hills Fish Hatchery has been the primary rearing facility in Missouri for the early life stages of Eastern hellbenders. This facility has focused on hatching fertilized eggs collected from the wild and rearing animals for repatriation into their natal streams. This paper describes the recirculating aquaculture system used to rear Eastern hellbenders, the culture techniques that have been developed, and some of the results.

Introduction to a Special Section: Captive Propagation of Imperiled Species

“…We hope that this special section serves as a repository for the information that was shared: propagation of the eastern hellbender Cryptobranchus alleganiensis (Civiello et al. ), spawning of young Alligator Gar (Patterson et al. ), early life history of the Guadalupe Bass Micropterus treculii (Prangnell and Matthews ), conservation aquaculture facilities (Tave et al.…”

“…The symposium was lively and informative, but that exchange did not address the challenge of getting this information into the literature. We hope that this special section serves as a repository for the information that was shared: propagation of the eastern hellbender Cryptobranchus alleganiensis (Civiello et al 2019), spawning of young Alligator Gar (Patterson et al 2019), early life history of the Guadalupe Bass Micropterus treculii (Prangnell and Matthews 2019), conservation aquaculture facilities ), a perspective on conservation culture , and strip-spawning of Great Plains cyprinids (Urbanczyk et al 2019). We are glad to make the information accessible to individuals who did not have the opportunity to attend the symposium.…”