Eastern Hellbender

The eastern hellbender (Cryptobranchus alleganiensis) salamander is the largest amphibian in North America. Hellbenders spend their entire lives in river systems. Threatened throughout their range in the United States, hellbenders have been recorded in Alabama in Colbert, Franklin, Lauderdale, Limestone, Madison, Marion, and Morgan Counties.

Photograph courtesy of the Smithsonian Institution, National Zoo