Hellbender

 As promised, Hellbender Salamanders. 

The picture here is from the link below for Marine Sanctuary. 

Also known as Snot Otters, Mudcats, and Devil Dogs. They spend most of their time hiding under large rocks, which is why the picture above. 

This is the largest species of Salamanders in North America, growing to over a foot long and weighing up to 5 pounds. Most of the salamanders I've encountered have been about the size of a finger, so this is a pretty large critter. Not the largest in the world, but I'll cover that one someday too. 

Interestingly, at least to me, these guys need the water they live in to be clear and clean because they breathe through their skin instead of through gills or their mouths or anything like that. Well, they have gills when they're younger, but they grow out of them. If they get covered in mud, like one of the nicknames suggests, or if the water has too much other stuff in it, then they suffocate. That's part of why they are entirely aquatic instead of being able to wander in and out, like a lot of other salamanders. 

You'd probably think that the tiny salamanders only live for a year or two, but they can live up to 10 sometimes. These guys specifically can live for 25 years in the wild, or longer in captivity. 

This picture comes from the Smithsonian link below. This is closer to the image that had me investigating hellbenders first, along with the name. 

Ok, so, this is one of those times where I have problems defending scientists, but please don't hate on them too much. They've done a lot of research into how salamanders, axolotls, and others can regrow toes and limbs and things, which has led to advancements that have helped in humans. These guys don't do that. They were tracked by cutting off toes to mark them. Please don't hate on scientists too much for this. 

Before you get too up-in-arms about them though, they do have teeth that can break through human skin. They also have a defense mechanism to excrete mucus when threatened. Which means, they can bite and are slippery. I'm actually not too surprised that attempts to tag them caused problems. 

One of the really cool things about them though, one that I adore finding out about, is that these guys are apparently the only species left on their particular branch of the Salamander Family Tree. There are fossils of these guys going back over 150 million years, and these are the guys that managed to survive it all. 

Please, Humanity, don't destroy this unique and weird creature. I like them. 

Hopefully I'll be back tomorrow with something else. I don't know what yet. Any votes?

Sources
Fish and Wildlife-- Eastern Hellbender

Fish and Wildlife-- Hellbenders, Fantastic Beasts of Rivers and Streams

Fish and Wildlife-- Hellbenders, a Song

Marine Sanctuary-- Hellbenders

Smithsonian-- Hellbender

New York Department of Environmental Conservation-- Eastern Hellbender

Wildlife Facts-- Hellbender Salamander

PBS-- 12 facts about the Hellbender

Defenders of Wildlife-- Hellbender