Reproduction
Object numberRCSHC/3264
Scientific nameCryptobranchus alleganiensis
CollectionHunterian
CategoryWet preparations
Object nameovary, oviducts, rectum, Kidney, cloaca, Products of generation - Amphibians, Mounted wet tissue
DescriptionThe ovaries, kidney and cloaca of a hellbender salamander.
Bristles have been placed in the cloacal outlets of the oviducts and into the bladder.
Hunter first acquired specimens of the hellbender when he purchased the collection of a Mr Lake, who had lived in South Carolina for several years. Hunter purchased Lake's entire collection in about 1758. It is not known whether this specimen was one of those purchased in 1758 or was added subsequently. In his original notes Hunter describes this species under the title 'chuah chisstannah', which is a transcription of the Cherokee name.
Production date 1760 - 1793
Preparator
Owner/user
presented
Physical Location
LocationOn display in the Hunterian Museum, Room 4: The Long Gallery
Physical Information
Physical descriptionWet preparation of tissue mounted in a circular glass jar with a glass lid.
Materialglass (material)
Menopoma
Dimensions
whole height: 258 mm
whole diameter: 96 mm
whole weight: 1944 g
whole diameter: 96 mm
whole weight: 1944 g
Bibliography
Transcript3264: The ovaries with the oviducts, rectum, kidney, and cloaca of a Menopome (Menopoma alleghaniense). The ovaries consist each of a long, broad, plicated, membranous sac, suspended by a fold of peritoneum. The ova and ovisacs develop within the walls of the sac and as they mature project in bunches from its surface. The ripe ova are spherical and of about the size of a small pea; amongst them may be seen numerous smaller ovisacs at different stages of immaturity. The oviducts are long sub-compressed canals, disposed in numerous short convolutions. Each commences far forward in the body cavity by a free abdominal aperture. Bristles have been inserted into the cloacal outlets of the oviducts and into the bladder.
SourceHunter 1861
386-389
NotesHunter's notes record his observation on the anatomy of the 'Chuah Chisstannah', or 'craw-fish eater' of the Carolinas. Hunter describes how natives caught the animal by intoxicating it with buck-eye root paste. Like the amphiuma and siren Hunter regarded this species as a transitional form between aetween animals such as fish with two-chambered hearts, and amphibians or reptiles with three chambers.
