America's biggest salamanders call the NC mountains home

BOONE, N.C. (AP) — Behind a small, quiet church tucked away in the woods of the Appalachian Mountains lies a hidden metropolis of giant salamanders.

They're known as Eastern hellbenders, and are the largest salamanders in the Americas, averaging 12 to 29 inches, weighing over 3 pounds and living up to 30 years. They're also sometimes called "snot otters," an apt nickname given the layer of mucus covering their loose, muddy brown skin.

Hellbenders can be easy to miss, since they blend right in with the smooth rocks that cover the riverbed. But the water runs clear, cold and fast through this bend in the river, which makes it the perfect habitat for hellbenders.

In fact, this 150-meter stretch is known as one of the best spots in the world for finding Eastern hellbenders, said Michael Gangloff, assistant professor of Freshwater Conservation Biology at Appalachian State University.

Gangloff oversees the team of researchers that geared up in full wetsuits and snorkels to conduct a survey of the area's hellbender population last month.

"We go out to do this kind of field research about every day in the summer, if the weather is appropriate," Gangloff said. "Or, I should say, the students do."

By the end of the afternoon, the team found a total of 11 hellbenders — just two shy of the most they've ever found in a day. The last one caught was also the biggest, weighing 720 grams (1.6 pounds) at a whopping 53.5 centimeters (2.14 feet) long.

Eastern hellbenders are listed as a species of concern by the North Carolina Wildlife Resources Commission, and a species of greatest conservation need in the N.C. Wildlife Action Plan.

What makes finding a concentrated "city of hellbenders" like this especially significant is the salamander's ability to indicate water quality.

..