 Like most salamanders, it has short legs with four toes on the front legs and five on its back limbs, and its tail is keeled for propulsion.The hellbender has working lungs, but gill slits are often retained, although only immature specimens have true gills; the hellbender absorbs oxygen from the water through capillaries of its side frills.It is blotchy brown or red-brown in color, with a paler underbelly.