Hellbender populations are declining due to pollution and the damming of streams and rivers. Fishermen also pose a threat, as they kill hellbenders either inadvertently or occasionally for bait. The Reptile Discovery Center's Appalachian Salamander Lab was established in recent years as an on-exhibit research facility. Hellbender Salamander is the Closest Thing We Have to STRANGER THINGS’ Dart. Student researchers at WVU even noted that after posting pictures of hellbenders they were studying, the internet.

Hellbender, ( Cryptobranchus alleganiensis), belonging to the family Cryptobranchidae (order Caudata) found in the larger, swift-flowing streams of the River system, the, and other streams in the eastern and central United States. Adults grow to be 30–74 cm (12–29 inches) long and are stout-bodied and flat-headed, with a broad tail fin and wrinkled sides. The hellbender is typically coloured brownish gray with black spots. Dead to rights: retribution mission list. Adults have lungs, but a gill slit persists from the larval stage on each side behind the head.

The wrinkled fleshy folds on the hellbender’s body and legs are important in increasing surface area for respiration through the skin, which is the dominant mode of oxygen intake. During the day hellbenders lie under stones, but they emerge at night to feed on, small fishes, and worms. Oh edo towns stable. Mating usually occurs in late summer, and fertilization is external. The female hellbender lays a string of 150 to 900 eggs on the stream bottom in a nest that is scooped out by the male, who then guards them for the 10–12 weeks before they hatch.