In a breakthrough that could help save a highly endangered Ozarks salamander and benefit other amphibians in crisis, conservationists announced Wednesday that for the first time they have bred an ugly creature called a hellbender.
Not every species on the brink looks cute on a poster. But the hellbender has been likened to an “aquatic canary in the coal mine” for its reflection of the overall health of the aquatic ecosystem. Its numbers have declined 70 to 80 percent in recent decades.
That’s why researchers were giddy in October to discover eggs in an elaborate captive breeding program by the St. Louis Zoo and the Missouri Department of Conservation. “When we looked into the artificial nesting box and saw the eggs, the excitement on everybody’s face was tremendous,” said Jeff Briggler, a Department of Conservation herpetologist. “I would classify that as a high-five moment. To this day it is surreal to me.”
The first larvae hatched Nov. 15. Sixty-two more have hatched since then and about 120 remaining eggs are expected to hatch within the next week. Hellbenders can grow about 2 feet long and are among the largest salamanders in the world. They are brown with black splotches and walk on the bottom of stream beds in Missouri and Arkansas. Their loose skin is slimy and becomes even slimier when they’re threatened — they’re also called snot otters.
When it’s breeding time, a male sets up a nesting site under a large rock and a female lays a clutch of eggs. The male then fertilizes them and stands guard until they hatch.
But habitat destruction from human activities, as well as a fungus called chytrid that is killing amphibians all over, have taken their toll. While Ozark waters once supported 8,000 hellbenders, it is estimated that fewer than 600 still exist. The salamander was placed on the endangered species list in October but could become extinct in 20 years.
Because hellbenders absorb oxygen, heavy metals and pesticides through their skin, they can be a bellwether for things that can harm people, as well. Studies have noted a decline in sperm count in human males in areas where the hellbender is languishing, said Jeff Ettling, curator of herpetology and aquatics at the Ron Goellner Center for Hellbender Conservation at the St. Louis Zoo.
The zoo and the Department of Conservation began collecting hellbender eggs from the wild in 2002 and raising the creatures for re-release with radio transmitters. The results were encouraging, so an attempt at captive breeding was begun with additional funding from private donors and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.
To mimic the hellbenders’ environment, the zoo built long artificial streams with native rocks and systems to control flow, temperature and light. The recent hatchlings, from wild-bred parents, were the result of that work.
As the larvae grow, they will develop legs and lose their gills. They will need to reach six or seven years before they are mature and can be released into the wild in the Ozarks, Briggler said, adding that the program will continue to breed the salamanders. “We don’t want this animal disappearing,” he said, “and today’s announcement makes us believe we have a way to save the hellbender.”