Hellbender Facts for Kids
Cryptobranchus alleganiensis · krip-toh-BRANK-us al-eh-gay-nee-EN-sis
A big salamander that breathes through its wrinkly skin under river rocks.
- 🏃 speed: not yet checked
- ⚖️ 4.9 lb2.2 kg1
- 📏 24 in61 cm2 long
- 🎂 40 years40 years2
- 🍽️ meat
- Needs help (Vulnerable)
The hellbender is a big, flat salamander. It lives under rocks in cold, clear streams. Its skin is wrinkly and slimy.
A hellbender has loose, wrinkly folds of skin along its sides. The folds give it more skin to take in oxygen from the fast, cool water. It hides under big flat rocks in the daytime and hunts crayfish at night.
Hellbenders are the largest salamanders in North America, and they spend their whole lives in the water. They need cool, clear, fast streams with plenty of oxygen and loose rocks to hide under, so they are a sign of a healthy stream. Muddy or warm water makes them disappear from a stream. Zoos raise young hellbenders and set them free in streams, and people plant trees along the banks to keep the water cool and clean.
How big is a hellbender?
Hellbender in numbers
| Length | 24 in61 cm2the most measured |
|---|---|
| Height at the shoulder | no checked number yet |
| Weight | 4.9 lb2.2 kg1the most measured |
| Top speed | no checked number yet |
| How long it lives | 40 years40 years2the most measured |
| What it eats | crayfish, small fish and insects |
| Where it lives | cool, clear mountain streams in the eastern United States |
| What kind | Amphibians |
| Is it in danger? | Needs help (Vulnerable)3 |
A number we couldn’t find on a page we trust says so, instead of guessing.
Wow!
- Some people call it a snot otter.
- The father hellbender guards the eggs.
- Its wrinkly skin helps it take in oxygen from the water.
Compare the hellbender
Friends and neighbours
Japanese giant salamander
Axolotl
North American river otterThree questions
Books about the hellbender, free at the library
Ask a grown-up to tap the button: it shows where to borrow a book about the hellbender for free.
Where these numbers come from
- Smithsonian's National Zoo, checked 30 October 2026.
- U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, 'A Salamander's Struggle for Survival', checked 30 October 2026.
- Wikidata, from the IUCN Red List, checked 30 October 2026.
- Wikidata, Hellbender (Q369467), checked 30 October 2026.