The subspecies is strictly native to the mountain streams of the Ozark Plateau in southern Missouri and northern Arkansas.
[6] The Ozark hellbender is a nocturnal predator that hides under large flat rocks and primarily consumes crayfish and small fish.
[3] The population decline of the subspecies is caused by habitat destruction and modification, overutilization, disease and predation, and low reproductive rates.
Historically it has been found in portions of the Spring, White, Black, Eleven Point, and Current rivers and their tributaries.
Hellbenders are habitat specialists that are dependent on consistent levels of dissolved oxygen, temperature, and water flow.
[17] It has been observed that Ozark hellbenders in warm stagnant waters sway or rock in order to increase oxygen exposure.
[17] Ozark hellbenders are nocturnal predators, remaining beneath rock cover during the day and emerging to forage at night, primarily on crayfish.
[7] Typically, Ozark hellbenders breed in mid-October, although certain populations that live in the Spring River area tend to procreate in the winter.
[4][23] Ozark hellbenders are highly sedentary creatures, meaning that neither males nor females have long distance dispersal rates.
[7] Siltation endangers the larval salamanders because it fills in the gravel stream beds where they live, reducing their ability to find food and hide from predators.
[7][25] Mining is especially detrimental as it increases zinc and leads hellbender habitats to dangerously high levels for aquatic life.
[25] Pollution is readily taken up by hellbenders due to the absorptive properties of their skin and decreases in water quality can make rivers and streams unlivable for this subspecies.
While Missouri and Arkansas have decreased or stopped issuing permits for scientific collection since the 1990s, illegal harvesting for the pet trade has continued.
[7][10] The Ozark hellbender also experiences predation from non-native rainbow and brown trout stocked in river for sport fishing.
[3]: 61969 Additionally, unusual physical abnormalities have been observed in Ozark hellbenders in recent years, such as missing limbs or eyes and epidermal lesions, with increasing frequency, although the cause of these deformities is currently unknown.
Since then, the Arkansas Game and Fish Commission (AGFC) and Missouri Department of Conservation (MDC) have begun to track the health and wellbeing of the creatures.
[7] The most popular conservation strategy for the Ozark hellbender is captive breeding and reintroduction back into their natural habitats.
[8] In regards to hellbender release after captive breeding, planning should include data on genetic information and the presence of chytrid fungus and other pathogens.
Since there is little gene flow or genetic variation in the subspecies, it is hard to continue to build their numbers due to negative consequences from inbreeding.