Depending on your location, seeing a salamander is not particularly out of the ordinary. If you are exploring the brooks and ponds of China or Japan you may come across a Salamander so large that you may mistake it for some sort of river monster. The Chinese (Andrias davidianus) and Japanese (Andrias japonicus) giant Salamanders can grow up to 6 feet in length or larger dwarfing the next largest Salamander species, the American Hellbender (Cryptobranchus alleganiensis), which only reaches lengths of just over 2 feet.

The Japanese variety is the smaller of the two growing to only 4 feet 9 inches. It is entirely aquatic, living is the clear cool streams of Japan. Hunting at night and having very poor eyesight, the Japanese Giant Salamander depends on special sensory nodes in its forehead to detect its prey’s movement through the water. Because it lacks any natural competition in its environment and has an extremely slow metabolism the Japanese Giant Salamander lives a very long life. One specimen in captivity in a Dutch zoo lived for 52 years.

The Chinese Giant Salamander is the largest species of salamander in the world with the largest recorded specimen reaching 6 feet in length. Some unverified reports have the Chinese Giant Salamander growing well beyond its “official” maximum length. Chinese folk tales tell of salamanders so large that they have attacked people and boats. Like its Japanese cousin, the Chinese variety of Giant Salamander is also nocturnal uses the same specialized sense organs to locate its prey. A delicacy and a ingredient in traditional local medicine, the Chinese Salamander is has been hunted to near extinction. This combined with habitat loss and pollution have lead to China’s Giant Salamander being listed as critically endangered by the World Conservation Union.

Giant Salamanders @ Wikipedia
Chinese Giant Salamander @ Wikipedia
Japanese Giant Salamander @ Wikipedia
Hellbender @ Wikipedia
Giant Salamanders Are Big @ Cryptomundo

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