Class:
Amphibia
Order:
Caudata
Scientific Name:
Ambystoma mexicanum
Range:
Native habitat in canals and waterways around Mexico City (huge numbers bred in captivity for scientific purposes)
Habitat:
Streams and lakes with abundant vegetation
Diet:
Wild: worms, mollusks, fish, arthropods
Zoo: earthworms, fish
Gestation:
Incubation: 10-14 days
Litter:
Clutch Size: 100-300 eggs
Life Span:
5-15 years
Description:
Also known as the Mexican axolotl. A cylindrical, aquatic salamander that retains certain larval characteristics as an adult (known as 'neotony' or 'pedogenisis'). They possess external gills that resemble branchlike projections from the back of their wide head, four short legs with four fingers on each front leg and five toes on each back leg, as well as a finned tail. Axolotls exist in various colors from white to dark brown and all shades in between and they reach 10 to 12 inches at maturity.
Behavior: This species is solitary, lives underwater and may be active any time of the day, but is not commonly seen in the wild. They are carnivorous, eating anything they can catch, such as mollusks, fish and arthropods. They communicate mostly with visual clues.
Reproduction: The courtship involves some nudging and moving around in a circle. The male releases a cone shaped jelly mass (spermatophore) followed by the female moving over the mass to pick up the sperm for internal fertilization. 100-300 eggs are deposited into the water, attached to rocks or vegetation. In 10-14 days the young hatch and are immediately independent. Sexual maturity is reached in about one and half years. In the wild, axolotls breed generally from March to June.
Did You Know?
- Widely used in laboratories because of their amazing ability to regenerate a lost or damaged limb
- Also known as the Mexican axolotl
- The destruction of lakes around Mexico City for drinking water leads to the destruction of the species that live there, including the Axolotl, which is now on the Endangered Species list.
- The word 'axolotl' comes from the Aztec language, roughly translated to water dog (referring to the Aztec god Xolotl).
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