Japanese Giant Salamander
Andrias japonicus
Where is it found?
Streams and rivers
Diet and foraging method
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Hunts using its sense of smell and rapidly snaps at prey with its mouth creating enough suction to pull its prey into its mouth.
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Key adaptations
Their grey, black and green skin provides them with camouflage in their aquatic environment. The skin of Japanese giant salamanders is warty and wrinkly to increase the surface area for exchanging oxygen and carbon dioxide.
Social organisation and mating system
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Gather in large groups before breeding polygynously.
Did you know that...?
Japanese giant salamanders have lungs which no longer work, which is why they breathe through their skin and live in fast-flowing water with plenty of oxygen!
Taxonomy
Picture credits:
Maps from: http://species.mol.org/species/
"Andrias japonicus in KYOTO AQUARIUM13-r" by Oilstreet - Own work. Licensed under CC BY 2.5 via Wikimedia Commons - https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Andrias_japonicus_in_KYOTO_AQUARIUM13-r.jpg#/media/File:Andrias_japonicus_in_KYOTO_AQUARIUM13-r.jpg
"Cryptobranchus japonicus" by Y. de Hoev. - G. Mösch, Der Japanische Riesensalamander und der fossile Salamander von Oeningen, Neujahrsblatt der NGZH Nr. 89, 1887. Licensed under Public Domain via Wikimedia Commons - https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Cryptobranchus_japonicus.jpg#/media/File:Cryptobranchus_japonicus.jpg
"Andrias japonicus in KYOTO AQUARIUM13-r" by Oilstreet - Own work. Licensed under CC BY 2.5 via Wikimedia Commons - https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Andrias_japonicus_in_KYOTO_AQUARIUM13-r.jpg#/media/File:Andrias_japonicus_in_KYOTO_AQUARIUM13-r.jpg
"Cryptobranchus japonicus" by Y. de Hoev. - G. Mösch, Der Japanische Riesensalamander und der fossile Salamander von Oeningen, Neujahrsblatt der NGZH Nr. 89, 1887. Licensed under Public Domain via Wikimedia Commons - https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Cryptobranchus_japonicus.jpg#/media/File:Cryptobranchus_japonicus.jpg
