"BLOOMINGTON, Minn. -- The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service has designated the Ozark hellbender as endangered under the federal Endangered Species Act. Hellbenders are among the world's largest salamanders. The Ozark hellbender inhabits the White River system in southern Missouri and northern Arkansas."

"Adult Ozark hellbenders may reach lengths up to two feet, and their flattened bodies enable them to move in the fast-flowing streams they inhabit.

Hellbenders are habitat specialists that depend on constant levels of dissolved oxygen, temperature, and flow in their aquatic environment. Even minor alterations to stream habitat are detrimental to hellbender populations."

Environment News Service had the story October 14, 2011. [2]