Reptiles and amphibians
Hellbender heroes: Saving Missouri's living fossil
We at the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, along with the Saint Louis Zoo and Missouri Department of Conservation, received the inaugural Partners in…
Reported by U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service · · 3 min read
We at the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, along with the Saint Louis Zoo and Missouri Department of Conservation, received the inaugural Partners in Amphibian and Reptile Conservation Collaborative Conservation Partnership Award. This award recognizes our partnership with the Saint Louis Zoo WildCare Institute Ron and Karen Goellner Center for Hellbender Conservation which rears, breeds and releases hellbenders into Missouri’s rivers and streams.
The Center for Hellbender Conservation works to help Missouri’s Ozark and eastern hellbender populations rebound from recent decline. Over the past 40 years, populations declined more than 70% due to environmental threats, making the species a conservation priority for our agency and partners. Research, breeding and reintroduction efforts are working to turn the tide. In 2011, captive breeding produced more than 150 larval Ozark hellbenders, a milestone recalled by U.S. Fish and Wildlife Biologist Trisha Crabill. It demonstrated that long-term, sustainable captive breeding was possible. This is significantly important for the recovery of the species. Since 2008, our partners have released more than 12,000 endangered hellbenders back into the wild.
What is a Hellbender?
The hellbender is a large, fully aquatic amphibian with a flat head, wrinkled body and paddle-shaped tail. It is usually dark gray or brown with irregular dark spots along its back. Hellbenders breathe entirely through their skin, so they require cool, clear, fast-flowing, well oxygenated streams. Any increase in pollutants, sediment or contaminants directly impacts their ability to survive. Their presence signals exceptionally clean freshwater conditions.
There are two subspecies of hellbenders, and Missouri is the only state where both subspecies are found in the wild. The Ozark hellbender lives in a small number of rivers in Missouri and Arkansas. The eastern hellbender is broadly distributed in 15 states from New York to Mississippi. The Ozark hellbender was listed as an endangered species in 2011, and eastern hellbender populations in Missouri were listed as endangered in 2021. Other populations of the eastern hellbender are currently proposed for listing as endangered under the Endangered Species Act.
Protecting a living fossil
Commonly referred to as living fossils, hellbenders have lived in America’s waterways for tens of thousands of years. They are camouflage experts, spending most of their time nestled under rocks and hunting between strategic hiding places. Sedimentation, siltation and altered flows quickly degrade these habitats, meaning declines in hellbenders reflect broader ecological stress.
Protecting hellbender populations and their habitats is essential for the overall well-being of our freshwater systems, supporting environmental health and helping maintain biodiversity throughout its range. Hellbenders are indicators of healthy, clean water and their presence in a river system signals environmental quality. People can take meaningful actions like keeping streams free of debris, avoiding chemical runoff, supporting habitat restoration efforts and reporting hellbender sightings to conservation agencies.
About the award
The Partners in Amphibian and Reptile Conservation Collaborative Conservation Partnership Award recognizes outstanding partnerships that significantly further amphibian and reptile conservation. The Center for Hellbender Conservation was selected for this award because of its collaborative spirit as three institutions work together to advance hellbender conservation.
Learn more about our work at the Saint Louis Zoo WildCare Institute Ron and Karen Goellner Center for Hellbender Conservation.
Field guide: hellbender
The story above is about the partnership that rears and releases hellbenders in Missouri. Here is what it says about the animal itself, organized so you can recognize it, check a sighting and tell the two subspecies it names apart by where they live.
How to recognize it, step by step
Start with the place
The Ozark hellbender lives in a small number of rivers in Missouri and Arkansas. The eastern hellbender is broadly distributed in 15 states, from New York to Mississippi.
Look at the water
It is fully aquatic and breathes entirely through its skin, so it needs cool, clear, fast-flowing, well oxygenated streams.
Then the shape
A large amphibian with a flat head, a wrinkled body and a paddle-shaped tail.
Then the color
Usually dark gray or brown, with irregular dark spots along the back.
Do not expect to see it easily
The story calls hellbenders camouflage experts that spend most of their time nestled under rocks and hunting between hiding places.
Could it have been a hellbender?
Answer what you saw. Each answer is compared with what the story says about the animal. Leave blank what you did not notice.
Your result
Answer at least three questions
With fewer answers there is nothing to compare yet.
The two subspecies
The story names two subspecies and says Missouri is the only state where both are found in the wild. This is everything it says about the animal and each subspecies, side by side.
Hellbender
- Shape
- Large, fully aquatic amphibian; flat head, wrinkled body, paddle-shaped tail
- Color
- Usually dark gray or brown, with irregular dark spots along the back
- Breathing
- Entirely through its skin
- Habitat
- Cool, clear, fast-flowing, well oxygenated streams; spends most of its time under rocks
Ozark hellbender
- Where
- A small number of rivers in Missouri and Arkansas
- Status
- Listed as an endangered species in 2011
Eastern hellbender
- Where
- Broadly distributed in 15 states, from New York to Mississippi
- Status
- Populations in Missouri listed as endangered in 2021; other populations proposed for listing as endangered
Every line comes from the story linked below; where the story says nothing, this guide says nothing. The story does not say how to tell the two subspecies apart by their looks, and it names no other animal that could be mistaken for a hellbender, so a regional field guide or your state wildlife agency is still worth consulting.
Hellbender: questions and answers
What does a hellbender look like?
It is a large, fully aquatic amphibian with a flat head, a wrinkled body and a paddle-shaped tail. It is usually dark gray or brown with irregular dark spots along its back.
Where does it live?
In cool, clear, fast-flowing, well oxygenated streams, where it spends most of its time nestled under rocks. The Ozark hellbender lives in a small number of rivers in Missouri and Arkansas; the eastern hellbender is broadly distributed in 15 states from New York to Mississippi.
How many kinds are there?
The story names two subspecies, the Ozark hellbender and the eastern hellbender, and says Missouri is the only state where both are found in the wild.
Why does it need clean water?
Hellbenders breathe entirely through their skin, so any increase in pollutants, sediment or contaminants directly affects their ability to survive. The story says their presence signals exceptionally clean freshwater conditions.
Why is it called a living fossil?
The story says hellbenders are commonly referred to as living fossils and have lived in America’s waterways for tens of thousands of years.
Is it endangered?
The Ozark hellbender was listed as an endangered species in 2011, and eastern hellbender populations in Missouri were listed as endangered in 2021. Other eastern hellbender populations are proposed for listing as endangered under the Endangered Species Act. Over the past 40 years, populations declined more than 70% because of environmental threats.
What is being done to help it?
A partnership between the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, the Saint Louis Zoo and the Missouri Department of Conservation rears, breeds and releases hellbenders in Missouri’s rivers and streams. In 2011, captive breeding produced more than 150 larval Ozark hellbenders, and since 2008 partners have released more than 12,000 endangered hellbenders into the wild.
What can I do?
The story lists keeping streams free of debris, avoiding chemical runoff, supporting habitat restoration and reporting hellbender sightings to conservation agencies.
Facts about the species: U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service: fws.gov
