One of the 14 salamanders on WAnimals
Amphibians · Caudata · Cryptobranchidae
Japanese Giant Salamander
Andrias japonicus
It faces a high risk of extinction in the wild over the medium term. See full glossary
Its extraordinarily slow metabolism lets it survive weeks without eating, and it is the third largest amphibian in the world.
Weight
up to 26 kg
Size
up to 1.5 m
Lifespan
55 years
Diet
Carnivore
Feeds mainly on other animals.
Activity
Nocturnal
Active mainly at night.
Social structure
Solitary
Lives and hunts alone, joining others only to breed.
Sighting difficulty
Moderate
Fun facts
- Males compete aggressively for spawning pits under the riverbed, defending them fiercely as 'den masters'.
- It eats fish, insects, crustaceans and small mammals.
- It lives in cold, exceptionally clean rivers and streams of southern Japan.
- fisiologíaIt can live more than 50 years and breathes mainly through the folds of its skin, its lungs doing very little.
Life cycle & biology
- Skeleton type
- Vertebrate - internal bony skeleton (amphibian)
- Habitat & environment
- Cold, exceptionally clean rivers and streams of southern Japan
- Birth weight
- The larva ~100 mm long at a year old
- Size at birth
- A tiny larva on hatching, with gills it loses by around 3 years old
- Sexual maturity
- 5 years (the male at 30 cm, the female at 40 cm long)
- Gestation / incubation
- 12-15 weeks (84-105 days) after fertilisation
- Litter / clutch size
- 400 to 600 eggs per clutch, laid in a string like a strand of beads
- Lifespan in captivity
- A documented record of 52 years in captivity (in Amsterdam), with anecdotal estimates of 80-100
Sources consulted: Amphibian Ark Husbandry Guidelines; Animal Diversity Web; Encyclopedia of Life; AnAge (genomics.senescence.info); The Animal Facts; Animalia.bio; Animal Files; Wikipedia (Japanese giant salamander, Andrias)
Where to find it
See its range on the interactive mapWhere to watch it
Parks and dive sites where this species has been documented.
Related species
Other species in the catalogue with the most in common with Japanese Giant Salamander — same habitat, park, country, tags or family.
Chinese Softshell Turtle
Pelodiscus sinensis
Chinese Giant Salamander
Andrias davidianus
American Bullfrog
Lithobates catesbeianus
Japanese Black Salamander
Hynobius nigrescens
Japanese Fire-bellied Newt
Cynops pyrrhogaster
Hellbender
Cryptobranchus alleganiensis
How to help
The japanese giant salamander is classified as vulnerable. Organizations such as UICN, WWF y Wildlife Conservation Society work specifically on its conservation and that of its habitat; looking into their programs is a good starting point if you want to get involved.
It's documented in 2 real protected areas — part of why protecting these places matters for its conservation.
Keep exploring
Based on what we already know about japanese giant salamander.
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