Chinese giant salamander (Andrias davidianus)

The Chinese giant salamander is one of the largest salamanders and one of the largest amphibians in the world. It is fully aquatic and is endemic to rocky mountain streams and lakes in the Yangtze river basin of central China. It is considered critically endangered in the wild due to habitat loss, pollution, and overcollection, as it is considered a delicacy and used in traditional Chinese medicine. On farms in central China, it is extensively farmed and sometimes bred, although many of the salamanders on the farms are caught in the wild. The average adult salamander weighs 25–30 kg and is 115 cm in length. It can reach up to 50 kg in weight and 180 cm in length. The giant salamander is known to vocalize, making barking, whining, hissing, or crying sounds. Some of these vocalizations bear a striking resemblance to the crying of a young human child, and as such, it is known in the Chinese language as the “infant fish”. The Chinese giant salamander has been recorded feeding on insects, millipedes, horsehair worms, amphibians, freshwater crabs, shrimp, fish and Asiatic water shrew. Cannibalism is frequent. Both sexes maintain a territory, averaging 40 m2  for males and 30 m2 for females. The reproductive cycle is initiated when the water temperature reaches 20 °C and mating occurs between July and September. The female lays 400–500 eggs in an underwater breeding cavity, which is guarded by the male until the eggs hatch after 50–60 days.The Chinese giant salamander is entirely aquatic and lives in rocky hill streams and lakes with clear water. It typically lives in dark muddy or rocky crevices along the banks.

photo credits: Petr Hamerník