The Hellbender salamander is the third largest amphibean, getting up to lengths of up to two feet long, although it is more commonly only about one. Found throughout the Appalation Mountains of the eastern US, this little giant is second in size only to its close reletives, the Chinese and Japanese giant salamanders. It earned its name from numourous (incorrect) myths about it. According to legend, the hellbender is venomous, aggressive, and loves to sabatoge fishing trips by snapping people's lines. In reality, however, the Hellbender is a nonvenoumous, peaceful creature, usualy found under rocks and having a diet consisting of insects that fall into the water and small crayfish on the bottom of mountain streams.
