ˌkriptəˈbraŋkəˌdē noun plural
Usage: capitalized
Etymology: New Latin, from Cryptobranchus, type genus + -idae
: a family of large aquatic salamanders including the American hellbenders and the Asiatic giant salamanders, all distinguished by amphicoelous vertebrae, external fertilization, and the absence of eyelids and of lacrimal and septomaxillary bones and with Hynobiidae forming a suborder of Caudata comprising primitive salamanders with relatively generalized skeletons