Andrias davidianus

[TJ]

Beautiful pattern on this one:

Picture by: CITES Management Authority of China
Source: http://www.cites.org/gallery/species/amphibian/chinese_giant_salamander.html

 

[kaysie]

Wow! The ones I saw in europe were just plain greyish.

 

[TJ]

The two A. davidianus I saw today at the Saitama Aquarium north of Tokyo were indeed grey. This one here is about 140 cm (4.6 feet) long, and is reputed to be the largest A.d in captivity in Japan:

It was caught in Saitama Prefecture's Arakawa River about 15 years ago (having evidently been released by somebody), at which time it was around 120 cm long. The two A.davidianus are being held "under protection" at the aquarium but are not on public display -- which explains why they're not behind glass. Awesome creatures!

 

[TJ]

 

[TJ]

Here's a pic of the smaller one, which was caught in the very same river by somebody who kept it at home as a pet, but grew too big to handle and was given to the aquarium way back in 1986 when it was still only 75 cm.