Disease state associated with chronic toe lesions in hellbenders may alter anti-chytrid skin defenses.

Hellbenders (Cryptobranchus alleganiensis) are large, aquatic salamanders from the eastern United States. Both subspecies, eastern and Ozark hellbenders, have experienced declines resulting in federal listing of Ozark hellbenders. The globally distributed chytrid fungus, Batrachochytrium dendrobatidis (Bd) has been detected in both subspecies, and Batrachochytrium salamandrivorans (Bsal) poses a new threat if introduced into North America.

GEOGRAPHIC AND INDIVIDUAL DETERMINANTS OF IMPORTANT AMPHIBIAN PATHOGENS IN HELLBENDERS (CRYPTOBRANCHUS ALLEGANIENSIS) IN TENNESSEE AND ARKANSAS, USA.

Wildlife diseases are a major threat for species conservation and there is a growing need to implement disease surveillance programs to protect species of concern. Globally, amphibian populations have suffered considerable losses from disease, particularly from chytrid fungi (Batrachochytrium dendrobatidis [Bd] and Batrachochytrium salamandrivorans [Bsal]) and ranavirus. Hellbenders (Cryptobranchus alleganiensis) are large riverine salamanders historically found throughout several watersheds of the eastern and midwestern US.

Evaluation of Severity and Factors Contributing to Foot Lesions in Endangered Ozark Hellbenders, .

Arkansas populations of Ozark Hellbenders, have declined precipitously over the past few decades and are now limited to a single river. Biologists have also observed an increase of distal limb lesions with unidentified etiology and unknown role in morbidity and mortality of the species in this location. We documented lesions and collected associated individual size class data and pathogen samples in Ozark Hellbenders of Arkansas ( = 73) from 2011 to 2014 with the following two objectives: (1) document spatiotemporal patterns and severity of lesions present in this last remaining Arkansas Ozark Hellbender population, and (2) determine if host factors and infection status are associated with lesion severity.

Predicting the potential distribution of the amphibian pathogen Batrachochytrium dendrobatidis in East and Southeast Asia.

Batrachochytrium dendrobatidis (Bd) is the pathogen responsible for chytridiomycosis, a disease that is associated with a worldwide amphibian population decline. In this study, we predicted the potential distribution of Bd in East and Southeast Asia based on limited occurrence data. Our goal was to design an effective survey area where efforts to detect the pathogen can be focused.

Larval masquerade: a new species of paedomorphic salamander (Caudata: Plethodontidae: Eurycea) from the Ouachita Mountains of North America.

Species with truncated developmental patterns may go undetected if they resemble the juveniles of their close relatives. Herein we present an example of this phenomenon with the description of a highly divergent, relict species of stream-dwelling plethodontid salamander from the Ouachita Mountains of North America. Both mitochondrial and nuclear sequence data show that this new species is most closely related to its syntopic relative, Eurycea multiplicata.

Batrachochytrium dendrobatidis haplotypes on the hellbender Cryptobranchus alleganiensis are identical to global strains.

To determine whether the chytrid fungus Batrachochytrium dendrobatidis (Bd) found on the hellbender Cryptobranchus alleganiensis in the southern US is endemic or exotic, we identified the genetic type of this fungus using partial DNA sequences of the internal transcribed spacer (ITS) region. We identified 3 genetic types, which are found on Japanese amphibians other than the Japanese giant salamander Andrias japonicus, a species that belongs to the same family (Cryptobranchidae) as hellbenders. The fungus collected from hellbenders exhibited low genetic diversity and matched the common Bd genetic types which have been detected from around the world.