Andrias japonicus

The Japanese giant salamander (Andrias japonicus) is a species of salamander in the family Cryptobranchidae. This fully aquatic salamander is endemic to Japan, where it is known as , literally meaning "giant salamander". Other local names include Hanzaki, Hanzake, and Ankou. With a length of up to 5 ft,Andrias japonicus - Amphibiaweb it is the third-largest salamander in the world, only being surpassed by the very similar and closely related Chinese giant salamander (A. davidianus) and South China giant salamander (A. sligoi). There are currently only five known members of the family Cryptobranchidae: the Japanese, Chinese, and South China giant salamanders, an undescribed Andrias species from eastern China, and the hellbender (Cryptobranchus alleganiensis) in the eastern United States. The Japanese giant salamander was first catalogued by Europeans when the resident physician of Dejima Island in Nagasaki, Philipp Franz von Siebold, captured an individual and shipped it back to Leiden in the Netherlands, in the 1820s. The species was designated as a special natural monument in 1951, and is federally protected.

No narrative description available for this taxon yet.