Waterlife Design Group of Apopka, FL works with the Saint Louis Zoo to aide in saving an endangered aquatic species, the Ozark hellbender. Apopka, FL (PRWEB)

A new study co-authored by University of Florida researchers on the endangered Ozark Hellbender giant salamander is the first to detail its skin microbes, the bacteria and fungi that defend against pathogens.

The Saint Louis Zoo's Ron Goellner Center for Hellbender Conservation and the Missouri Department of Conservation announced on Nov. 30, 2011, that Ozark hellbenders have been bred in captivity—a first for either of the two subspecies of hellbender.

Decade-Long Collaboration of Zoo and Federal, State Scientists Yields 63 Baby Hellbenders ST. LOUIS, Nov.

The hellbender salamander - known affectionately as a snot otter or devil dog - is one of America's unique giant salamander species, but for unexplained reasons, most hellbender populations have rapidly declined as very little reproduction has occurred in recent decades.