Hunt for hellbenders is part of broader plan to protect them

ATLANTA — Researchers are donning wetsuits and wading into north Georgia streams to conduct an underwater search for giant salamanders known as hellbenders.

The effort is part of a survey designed to get a sense of the state of the hellbender in the north Georgia mountains.

Scientists have come to realize that the big salamanders might be in peril — and the federal government is now considering whether to protect them, WABE Radio reported.

Hellbenders can grow to nearly 2 feet (.6 meters) long and might live as long as 20 or 30 years, spending much of their time beneath rocks in cold, clean streams.

They have flat, round heads and a wide mouth that makes them look like they're smiling.

"I don't know that there's a lot going on in a hellbender's head. But it's a face a mother and a herpetologist can love," says Thomas Floyd, a wildlife biologist with the Georgia Department of Natural Resources who's leading the survey.

They also have many nicknames.

"I've heard a few, most common in this portion of the southern Appalachians is probably mud dog," says Floyd.

There's also snot otter. He continues: "Water dog, grampus, grumpus, mollyhugger, horny head, devil dog."

And finally, old lasagna sides, in recognition of the curvy flap of skin that runs down hellbenders' torsos.

In north Georgia, the group of researchers is looking for hellbenders because the species seems to be in trouble, so they're trying to learn more about where they live and how they're doing.