### animal | vertebrate | amphibian | salamander:

Hellbender
* Most hellbenders absorb oxygen
  - have lungs
* Some hellbenders live in environments
  - toxic environments
  - occur in streams
* Some hellbenders reach maturity
  - rely on senses
  - use biotechnology
* also express unusual specializations associated with cutaneous respiration
  - have a large, keeled tail and tiny eyes
  - use a lateral line system of sensory receptors to detect stimuli from the water
* are Pennsylvania's largest salamanders
  - a type of salamander that use camoflauge to hide
  - also generally intolerant to any heavy recreational use within their habitat
  - aquatic organisms throughout their life and remain active year-round
  - biodindicators of stream quality, as their tolerance for poor water quality is low
  - completely aquatic
* are considered a living fossil
  - an endangered species in Indiana
  - fully aquatic amphibians, meaning that they live entirely underwater
  - highly vulnerable to pollution and siltation of their rivers and streams
  - made for life in the water
  - nocturnal and search at night for small fish and crayfish
  - non-poisonous and pose no threat to humans
  - protected at the state level throughout their range
  - sensitive to pollution because they needs clean and well oxygenated water
  - solitary animals
  - split into two groups, called subspecies
  - the largest salamanders in North America
  - threatened or endangered in every state they are found in
* can grow to over two feet long and weigh more than four pounds
  - range in color from dull brown or gray to bright orange or red
  - see with their whole bodies
  - swim, but usually walk along the stream bottom using their sturdy limbs
* depend on the cooler temperatures of streams at higher elevations.
* fill ecological niches
* forage for their prey at night and sometimes also on overcast days.
* have a flat body and head, a large, very keeled tail, and tiny eyes.
* have an interesting reproductive process
  - unusual mating system
  - four toes on their front feet and five on their hind feet
  - lidless eyes, but the eyes are poor at forming images
  - one of the most inefficient respiratory systems in the animal kingdom
* hide under rocks in the daytime and eat crayfish, earthworms, and insects at night.
* includes brains
  - breasts
  - cell membranes
  - cells
  - chest cavities
  - chests
  - corpi
  - cytoplasm
  - faces
  - nuclei
  - pedal extremities
  - plasma membranes
  - rib cages
  - sections
  - skulls
  - sterna
  - vacuoles
  - vertebrate feet
* keep crayfish populations in check, allowing more and bigger game fish to develop.
* lay eggs in the late summer.
* live for years
  - in large permanent streams and rivers
  - underwater and breathe through fleshy folds in their skin
* play vital roles in their ecosystem as predators of crayfish and prey to large fish.
* prefer swift running, well oxygenated, unpolluted streams and rivers.
* require swift running, well-oxygenated, unpolluted streams and rivers
  - very specific habitats
* respond properly only to native species of predatory fish.
* serve as hosts to leeches, nematodes, parasitic worms, and tapeworms.
* use large rocks, logs, and even some manmade objects to hide under during the day
  - specific chemical cues to escape predation along with sensing movement in the water

Juvenile salamander
* Most juvenile salamanders exhibit preference.
* Some juvenile salamanders emerge from burrows.

Larval salamander
* Some larval salamanders occur at density.
* look much like their parents except that they have gills.

Marbled salamander
* are dependent on very specific pool hydrology for reproduction
  - very common in West Virginia, probably occurring in every county
* have bands of white, grey, or silver on their backs.
* inhabit forests, though they spend most of their time in burrows in the soil.
* lay eggs in the rising waters of vernal pools.