This week’s blog was written by Quinn, a Bucktails alum. Quinn is really curious about nature and enjoys writing about what he learns. He works with the Keep Pennsylvania Beautiful campaign as a Youth Ambassador. When he is not out on the trails near his home, Quinn can be found playing drums, dancing, playing hockey, managing a VR esports team, biking, or hanging out on the couch with his two cats.
I’m no gorehound, but it’s also no secret that I love a good horror movie. So when I first heard “Hellbender”, I was thinking, “where is it streaming?” I quickly found that it was “streaming” nearby – in the Pennsylvania waterways! It turns out that Pennsylvania has more than just a state bird, flower, or tree. The “Eastern Hellbender” actually refers to Pennsylvania’s state amphibian, otherwise known as the Cryptobranchus alleganiensis and loosely translates into the “hidden (crypto) gill (branchus) from the Allegheny (river or region)” lizard. And this salamander is a major red zone on the radar of environmentalists and conservationists due to both its depleting numbers and its signaling of wider ecosystem problems.
Muskingum Soil & Water Conservation District, OH The slimy appearance is a protective mucus secretion and helps the Hellbender “slide” through the water with ease.
Other Pennsylvania features appear to be here to stay, like Pennsylvania’s state soil (Hazleton), fossil (Trilobite), and even beverage (milk), but unfortunately, the state amphibian of Pennsylvania is one figurehead under attack right now, but not from natural prey. Its most formidable threat? Polluted waterways. The growing concern for its survival led the Chesapeake Bay Foundation’s Student Leadership Council alongside Lycoming College to push for the 65 million year-old species, the Eastern Hellbender, to become recognized as the Pennsylvania state amphibian as of 2019. The largest salamander in all of North America, it is prevalent throughout Pennsylvania and streaming southwesterly into Tennessee.
Purdue U. Geographic range of the Eastern Hellbender.
The Hellbender grows up to 2 feet in length and, despite its ominous-sounding name, is as harmless as it looks. If you’re squeamish about slippery things, you might be taken aback at first by its slimy body, flat head, and paddle-like tail. But all of these features allow the Hellbender to move swiftly through water; this comes in handy since, unlike most salamanders, it spends the majority of its life underwater and rarely comes to the surface.
The Hellbender mostly feeds on crayfish hiding under rocks and crevices that inhabit highly oxygenated streams. This love for oxygenated water is directly tied to the Hellbender’s physiology. Part of its scientific name, “hidden gill” is a bit misleading. Scientists gave it that name because they hadn’t yet understood its seemingly miraculous ability to stay underwater for so long. They guessed it must have some kind of “hidden respiratory structure”. Today, we know that two things contribute to this ability: the small gill slits that it retains from its larval anatomy and the ability it has to breathe in a gill-like way through the skin.
U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service. The Eastern Hellbender is a bit prehistoric-looking for a reason. It’s been around for 65 million years.
In more recent decades, what is a unique breathing system for the Hellbender has also been a main problem for its survival. Namely, they are so sensitive to freshwater pollutants that they are now classified as an endangered species due to huge reciprocal losses in their populations. Specifically, as waters across the United States become more polluted, harmful toxins cause oxygen to be less abundant in the water, suffocating the Hellbender. At the same time, its need for pollution-free waterways makes the Hellbender a great indicator species for clean water.
So are our waterways really that polluted, or is the Hellbender just sensitive? While the Hellbender is vulnerable to a lack of oxygen, their required ecosystem is an indicator of a wider problem – freshwater pollution. According to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, 51% of assessed river and stream miles in the U.S. are considered impaired, meaning they are unsafe for drinking, swimming, and fishing, while simultaneously being unable to support a strong and diverse aquatic ecosystem. This potential habitat loss led the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (home of the late famed environmentalist, Rachel Carson) to consider addition of the Hellbender to the endangered list under the Endangered Species Act. However, in September 2025, Dan DeWitt of the Smokey Mountain News reported that a new proposed federal rule would weaken environmental guidelines and prevent further Hellbender protections alongside other wildlife and ecosystems.
Your voice is needed in this effort – not just for our wonderful slimy friend the Hellbender, but also for every other aquatic creature living in or dependent on your local stream, from microorganisms to anglers and swimmers. Find out what you can do alone or with a local organization to improve a polluted stream in your area. It can be easier than you think; after all, many hands make light work. One thing you can do is to write a letter of support to your local government official, encouraging protections for the Hellbender and clean water for all. And if you’d like to be more involved about protecting Pennsylvania waterways, you could start by visiting the websites of one of the many ecology and environmental programs in your state, such as: the Stroud Water Research Center, the Buttonwood Nature Center, or any one of the regional watershed associations in Pennsylvania.
Swim on for another 65 million years, great Salamander! No need to hold your breath… we got you!
“The Hellbender” – Coming to a Stream Near You!
Posted: March 13, 2026 by Katie Mace
This week’s blog was written by Quinn, a Bucktails alum. Quinn is really curious about nature and enjoys writing about what he learns. He works with the Keep Pennsylvania Beautiful campaign as a Youth Ambassador. When he is not out on the trails near his home, Quinn can be found playing drums, dancing, playing hockey, managing a VR esports team, biking, or hanging out on the couch with his two cats.
I’m no gorehound, but it’s also no secret that I love a good horror movie. So when I first heard “Hellbender”, I was thinking, “where is it streaming?” I quickly found that it was “streaming” nearby – in the Pennsylvania waterways! It turns out that Pennsylvania has more than just a state bird, flower, or tree. The “Eastern Hellbender” actually refers to Pennsylvania’s state amphibian, otherwise known as the Cryptobranchus alleganiensis and loosely translates into the “hidden (crypto) gill (branchus) from the Allegheny (river or region)” lizard. And this salamander is a major red zone on the radar of environmentalists and conservationists due to both its depleting numbers and its signaling of wider ecosystem problems.
Other Pennsylvania features appear to be here to stay, like Pennsylvania’s state soil (Hazleton), fossil (Trilobite), and even beverage (milk), but unfortunately, the state amphibian of Pennsylvania is one figurehead under attack right now, but not from natural prey. Its most formidable threat? Polluted waterways. The growing concern for its survival led the Chesapeake Bay Foundation’s Student Leadership Council alongside Lycoming College to push for the 65 million year-old species, the Eastern Hellbender, to become recognized as the Pennsylvania state amphibian as of 2019. The largest salamander in all of North America, it is prevalent throughout Pennsylvania and streaming southwesterly into Tennessee.
The Hellbender grows up to 2 feet in length and, despite its ominous-sounding name, is as harmless as it looks. If you’re squeamish about slippery things, you might be taken aback at first by its slimy body, flat head, and paddle-like tail. But all of these features allow the Hellbender to move swiftly through water; this comes in handy since, unlike most salamanders, it spends the majority of its life underwater and rarely comes to the surface.
The Hellbender mostly feeds on crayfish hiding under rocks and crevices that inhabit highly oxygenated streams. This love for oxygenated water is directly tied to the Hellbender’s physiology. Part of its scientific name, “hidden gill” is a bit misleading. Scientists gave it that name because they hadn’t yet understood its seemingly miraculous ability to stay underwater for so long. They guessed it must have some kind of “hidden respiratory structure”. Today, we know that two things contribute to this ability: the small gill slits that it retains from its larval anatomy and the ability it has to breathe in a gill-like way through the skin.
In more recent decades, what is a unique breathing system for the Hellbender has also been a main problem for its survival. Namely, they are so sensitive to freshwater pollutants that they are now classified as an endangered species due to huge reciprocal losses in their populations. Specifically, as waters across the United States become more polluted, harmful toxins cause oxygen to be less abundant in the water, suffocating the Hellbender. At the same time, its need for pollution-free waterways makes the Hellbender a great indicator species for clean water.
So are our waterways really that polluted, or is the Hellbender just sensitive? While the Hellbender is vulnerable to a lack of oxygen, their required ecosystem is an indicator of a wider problem – freshwater pollution. According to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, 51% of assessed river and stream miles in the U.S. are considered impaired, meaning they are unsafe for drinking, swimming, and fishing, while simultaneously being unable to support a strong and diverse aquatic ecosystem. This potential habitat loss led the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (home of the late famed environmentalist, Rachel Carson) to consider addition of the Hellbender to the endangered list under the Endangered Species Act. However, in September 2025, Dan DeWitt of the Smokey Mountain News reported that a new proposed federal rule would weaken environmental guidelines and prevent further Hellbender protections alongside other wildlife and ecosystems.
Your voice is needed in this effort – not just for our wonderful slimy friend the Hellbender, but also for every other aquatic creature living in or dependent on your local stream, from microorganisms to anglers and swimmers. Find out what you can do alone or with a local organization to improve a polluted stream in your area. It can be easier than you think; after all, many hands make light work. One thing you can do is to write a letter of support to your local government official, encouraging protections for the Hellbender and clean water for all. And if you’d like to be more involved about protecting Pennsylvania waterways, you could start by visiting the websites of one of the many ecology and environmental programs in your state, such as: the Stroud Water Research Center, the Buttonwood Nature Center, or any one of the regional watershed associations in Pennsylvania.
Swim on for another 65 million years, great Salamander! No need to hold your breath… we got you!
Citations
Bittel, Jason. “This Giant Salamander Isn’t 200 Years Old, But It’s Still Super Rare.” National Geographic, 16 Dec. 2015, https://www.nationalgeographic.com/animals/article/151216-chinese-giant-salamanders-animals-science-china.
“Muskingum Soil and Water Conservation District.” Muskingum Soil and Water Conservation District, https://www.muskingumswcd.org/.
“Proposal to List the Eastern Hellbender as Endangered.” U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service, 12 Dec. 2024, https://www.fws.gov/press-release/2024-12/proposal-list-eastern-hellbender-endangered.
“What Is a Hellbender?” Purdue Extension Forestry and Natural Resources, Purdue University, https://ag.purdue.edu/department/extension/hellbender/about.html.
Category: Youth Blog Tags: amphibian, featured