The Hellbender Salamander

The hellbender is the largest amphibian in North America.

The aquatic salamander lives in eastern and central United States streams.

Adults grow to a total length of 30 to 74 centimeters.

Adult hellbenders weigh between 1.5 and 2.5 kilograms.

The flat body has thick skin folds running down each side.

Oxygen enters through capillaries hidden inside those lateral skin folds.

Each back foot has five toes for gripping stream rocks.

Hellbender eggs are often cannibalized in their stream habitat.

Hellbenders walk along stream bottoms instead of swimming much.

One hellbender claims about 198 square meters as home territory.

The nocturnal hunter eats crayfish and small fish after dark.

A captive hellbender can live up to 30 years.

The genus name Cryptobranchus means hidden gill in Ancient Greek.

Finding one under a rock means the stream water is clean.