Cryptobranchus Alleganiensis

The hellbender is a species of aquatic giant salamander found only in the eastern and central United States and is the largest salamander in North America. It breathes largely through its skin, absorbing oxygen through capillaries in folds along its sides, an adaptation it has relied on for roughly 65 million years while living in clear, fast-flowing streams and rivers. It is rated vulnerable on the IUCN Red List, and eastern hellbender populations are declining across nearly 80 percent of their range because of forest loss along streams, habitat degradation and disease.