The hellbender salamander is the largest species of salamander in the United States and is declining across much of its range. Hellbenders are fully aquatic amphibians and need clear, fast-flowing streams and rivers with rocky bottoms. While these salamanders spend most of their time under large rocks, they will come out to forage on crayfish, their preferred food, or to find a partner during the breeding season. In the fall, male hellbenders will locate a large rock with a cavity underneath with the right conditions for developing eggs. The male will then defend this rock from other males but will allow females to enter and deposit eggs, which he then fertilizes. We call these males "den masters." The female departs after the eggs are laid, and the den master will defend the nest until they hatch.
In North Carolina, the hellbender is legally protected and listed as a Special Concern species and a Species of Greatest Conservation Need. Biologists with NCWRC conduct surveys to monitor hellbender populations and address conservation objectives. A specific target for these surveys is the hellbender breeding season, when the salamanders are most active and most detectable by surveyors. Not only are females more visible as they move out of cover to find a nest, but the den masters are more detectable as they posture at the entrances of the nests they are actively guarding.
As part of one of these breeding season surveys, in fall 2021, NCWRC technicians observed this breeding event. While it's not uncommon to see hellbenders moving around during this time, it's much rarer to see an active breeding event, as we do in the video. To make the video more exciting, we observed several "sneaker" or "satellite" males entering the nest. Satellite males are not large enough to defend a nest themselves, instead hanging out near a nest so they can sneak in and attempt to fertilize the eggs while the den master is distracted. What makes this particular event even more interesting is the presence of two hellbenders, both presumably den masters, present at the nest entrance. We did not disturb the animals to confirm both were male, but this observation was still really incredible.
For more information on hellbenders, see the NCWRC website here: [ Ссылка ]
This video was filmed and edited by Wildlife Diversity Technician Ben Dalton.
