Chinese Giant Salamander

Andrias davidianus

Chinese Giant Salamander (Andrias davidianus): A River Giant, Now Several Species

The Chinese giant salamander (Andrias davidianus) is a fully aquatic, Critically Endangered giant salamander from the mountain streams of central China. Adults average about 1 m long, and since 2019 it has been split into several species.

Habitat

Rocky mountain streams and rivers, usually 300–800 m up; fully aquatic

Size

Average about 1 m and 11 kg; the 1.8 m record animal was probably A. sligoi

Diet

Ambush predator of crabs, fish, frogs, insects and other giant salamanders

Range

Northern Yangtze basin and Sichuan, China (as defined in 2019)

Conservation

Critically Endangered (IUCN); CITES Appendix I

Lifespan

At least 60 years in captivity

Habitat & range

Chinese giant salamanders live in fast-flowing, rocky mountain streams and rivers, usually between 300 and 800 m above sea level, and spend their whole lives in water. They shelter in underwater caves and crevices in the riverbank. For more than a century, all of China's giant salamanders were treated as one species. In 2019, a study of DNA from museum specimens found three separate species: Andrias davidianus in the northern Yangtze and Sichuan region, the South China giant salamander (Andrias sligoi) in the Pearl River and Nanling Mountains, and an undescribed species from the Huangshan area. More species have been named since: the Jiangxi giant salamander in 2022, Andrias cheni from Huangshan in 2023, and Andrias yaoluopingensis from Anhui in 2026. With the Japanese giant salamander, that makes six living Andrias species.

Size

Animal Diversity Web gives an average length of about 1 m and an average weight of about 11 kg. The largest giant salamander ever reported, about 1.8 m long, was caught near Guiyang in Guizhou province in the early 1920s. It used to be counted as a Chinese giant salamander, but recent samples from Guizhou belong to the South China lineage, so the 2019 study concluded that Andrias sligoi, not A. davidianus, is possibly the world's largest amphibian. Maximums often quoted for Chinese giant salamanders, such as 1.8 m and 60 kg, date from before the split and cover the whole group.

Diet & hunting

Chinese giant salamanders are nocturnal ambush predators. They eat crabs, fish, frogs, insects, water shrews and other giant salamanders; one analysis found that other giant salamanders made up about 27% of the diet by weight. They catch prey with a sudden suction strike, opening the broad mouth to pull in water and prey together. Their small, lidless eyes see poorly. Instead, sensory nodes along the head and body detect vibrations in the water.

Body & behaviour

Adults have lungs, but they also take in oxygen through the skin, and the wrinkled folds along the flanks add surface area. If caught, they release a sticky white skin secretion that ZSL London Zoo describes as smelling peppery. Their Chinese folk name, wawayu or "baby fish", comes from calls said to sound like a crying baby. Males do the childcare. In August, a male moves into an underwater den and spends up to 8 days pushing out sand and gravel. Females lay 300 to 560 eggs inside, and the male guards them, fanning them with his tail and eating eggs that are unfertilized or infected with mould. The eggs hatch after 40 to 60 days.

Conservation

The Chinese giant salamander is listed as Critically Endangered by the IUCN and is on CITES Appendix I. Between 2013 and 2016, researchers surveyed 97 sites in 16 provinces and could not confirm wild survival at any of them, with widespread poaching for the luxury food trade. Most remaining Chinese giant salamanders live on farms; licensed farms in Shaanxi province alone held about 2.6 million in 2011. Farms have exchanged animals between distant regions and released farm-bred young into rivers, which can mix lineages that evolved apart for millions of years.

Fun facts about Chinese Giant Salamander

• Its folk name, wawayu, means "baby fish", because its calls are said to sound like a crying baby. It also barks, hisses and whistles.
• The tail makes up about 59% of its total length.
• A 2018 genetic study found at least five, and possibly up to eight, distinct lineages among China's giant salamanders, all previously lumped as one species.
• Licensed farms in Shaanxi province alone held about 2.6 million giant salamanders in 2011, while surveys could not confirm a single surviving wild population.

Chinese Giant Salamander vs Japanese Giant Salamander

The Chinese giant salamander wins in Japan's rivers, through hybridization rather than fights.

This matchup really happens. Chinese giant salamanders imported into Japan escaped or were released into rivers such as Kyoto's Kamo River, where the native Japanese giant salamander lives. The two are close relatives with the same den-guarding, suction-feeding lifestyle and similar courtship, so instead of simply fighting, they interbreed. Hybrids have wide mouths and well-developed biting muscles, which researchers think helps them take bigger prey and win fights over nest dens. In the Kamo River, hybrids rose from 60% of the salamanders caught in 2008–09 to 92% by 2010–11. The native species is losing ground, and hybrids are now being removed from Japanese rivers.

Read more about Japanese Giant Salamander.

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