Strange Critter

[Jeremy Rasnick]

If its skin was really smooth, I would lean towards it being a "Mud Puppy" rather than a hell bender. I caught one on a minnow down at the barker hole while walleye fishing one nite. I took the hook out of its mounth and it bit the snot out of me. For them being endagered or threatened, it seems far fetched considering nearly everybody on this forum has had an encouter with one.

[DD'sMC]

The above is from the National Geographic Website~ Mudpuppy

The below is from Hellbender.org~an adult Hellbender

Now is it just me, or, by looking at these creatures, do they seem to have the names mixed up????

[Wayne SW/MO]

I have always thought the term mud puppy and water dog were catchalls for fresh water salamanders. I believe the Hellbender is the largest and most likely to be caught on hook and line.

There's a large, but diminishing population in the North fork. I suppose the bright light is that they are said to be very sensitive to water quality, so catching them in upper BS is encouraging.

[Troy Gregg]

Here is a link to the Missouri dept of conservations booklet on hellbenders...

http://mdc4.mdc.mo.gov/Documents/170.pdf

Probably have to copy and paste

DD'sMC, no the names are right on your images... the number one difference between the two are the external gills on the mudpuppy. otherwise they are

similar

[bclift65706]

Defiantly a Hellbender, they're native to the watershed, but its always a puzzle to me that they are in the lake. There's another unusual critter in BS that's probably seldom seen, the Chestnut Lamprey.

have you ever been biten by a lampray they are like a overgrown leach that sucks on with a nastey bite that will hurt and bleed worse than any leach I have come across one got me on the Gasconade river in October when I was gigging it was stuck to a fish. I was messing with it trying to figure out wat it was. Some one told me it was a lampray any way about 8in long big around as my thumb and its head was about as big as a container of CARMEX (just happen to be looking at a container of CARMEX thought is was about the right size to compare)

[DD'sMC]

have you ever been biten by a lampray they are like a overgrown leach that sucks on with a nastey bite that will hurt and bleed worse than any leach I have come across one got me on the Gasconade river in October when I was gigging it was stuck to a fish. I was messing with it trying to figure out wat it was. Some one told me it was a lampray any way about 8in long big around as my thumb and its head was about as big as a container of CARMEX (just happen to be looking at a container of CARMEX thought is was about the right size to compare)

YIKES!!!

[Wayne SW/MO]

Never bitten. The first I saw in BS dropped off before it left the water. The second was slow to come off after it was out of the water. I couldn't think of any value it had so I killed it.

[trizkid]

At Maramec Spring i once netted something that was flesh colored and looked like a hugh worm but was about as round as a fat highlighter marker and 8 inchs long and had no eyes that i could see ......it was floating down stream wiggling like crazy....i have never seen anything like it....

[Phil Lilley]

They are raising hellbenders at Shepherd of the Hills Hatchery. Got their stock from NF of the White.

[lonkm]

The above is from the National Geographic Website~ Mudpuppy

The below is from Hellbender.org~an adult Hellbender

Now is it just me, or, by looking at these creatures, do they seem to have the names mixed up????

The one I caught looked like the bottom picture. Colored like a flathead catfish.I didn't notice any gills as it was wiggling too much and I had a hard time holding on to it. It was very slick though.