Japanese giant salamander
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Japanese giant salamander ( Andrias japonicus ) |
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| Andrias japonicus | ||||||||||||
| ( Temminck , 1837) |
The Japanese giant salamander ( Andrias japonicus ) is a species of amphibian endemic to Japan .
The Japanese name Ōsanshōuo ( オ オ サ ン シ ョ ウ ウ オ / 大 山椒 魚 ) means roughly "big pepper fish ". With a body length of up to 1.5 m, the Japanese giant salamander is the second largest amphibian in the world after the Chinese giant salamander .
description
Like all giant salamanders , the Japanese giant salamander has a stocky build with a broad, flattened head. It has a conspicuous fold of skin along the flanks, which also continues on the limbs. The coloring of the skin varies considerably from yellow to black, with most individuals being marbled reddish brown to yellow-brown.
Sensory performance
Distributed over the whole body, especially concentrated on the head and the side line, the Japanese giant salamander has flow-sensitive cells with which it can perceive changes in flow in its environment. This enables him to find his prey even in the dark. The sense of sight is extremely poorly developed. The eyes on the side of the head are very small and not very efficient.
distribution and habitat
The Japanese giant salamander is only found on the Japanese islands of Kyushu , Honshu and Shikoku . There he lives in fast flowing mountain streams, rivers and sometimes lakes. The Japanese giant salamander is endangered according to the IUCN . The population is particularly threatened by the pollution of its habitat and the changes in the course of the rivers, in particular the installation of barrages, which means that aborted individuals can no longer hike up the river to spawn there. Protective measures in Japan aim to equip the barrages with ramps and stairs to allow the salamanders to migrate along the river. The Japanese giant salamander is also threatened by the infestation with the chytrid fungus .
Way of life
Japanese giant salamanders live aquatic throughout their lives and are largely nocturnal. During the day they hide under rocks, in caves or in the embankment. They have lung, skin and intestinal breathing. In the larval stage they have gills, but these regress to a couple. If Japanese giant salamanders feel threatened, they release a pungent, milky liquid that is reminiscent of Japanese pepper in terms of its smell , hence its Japanese name. Adult Japanese giant salamanders have no natural predators. They get very old, and rumor has it that they live up to 80 years. An individual in captivity has been shown to live to be 52 years old.
Reproduction
Reproduction takes place from August to September in the higher elevations of the river courses. This leads to territorial fights, in which the males sometimes suffer life-threatening injuries. Females lay 400–600 eggs in long egg strings. Development in the egg takes 40–60 days and larval development takes four to five years. Japanese giant salamanders are sexually mature after about ten years.
nutrition
The food spectrum mainly includes insects, fish and amphibians. The salamanders lurk at the bottom of the water and suck their prey into their throats using negative pressure.
People and giant salamanders
Adult giant salamanders can weigh up to 30 kg. They were therefore previously hunted by humans, fished with bait and used as food. However, the Japanese giant salamander has been a natural monument since 1952 and has been protected accordingly. The German doctor and Japan lover Philipp Franz von Siebold brought the first Japanese giant salamander to Europe in the 1820s. Since then it has been kept and bred in zoos around the world. In Kyoto Aquarium Chinese and Japanese giant salamander are bred together. The offspring are non-reproductive hybrids .
Individual evidence
- ↑ a b c Andrias japonicus - Amphibia web
- ↑ [3] - Andrias japonicus on the IUCN website
- ↑ オ オ サ ン シ ョ ウ ウ オ . The Agency for Cultural Affairs. Archived from the original on July 29, 2012. Info: The archive link was automatically inserted and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. Retrieved July 27, 2014.
Web links
- Discovery Channel video about giant salamander (English)
- BBC report (English)