Japanese giant salamander
The Japanese giant salamander is a species of fully aquatic giant salamander endemic to Japan, occurring across the western portion of the main island of Honshu, with smaller populations present on Shikoku and in northern Kyushu. With a length of up to 5 feet (1.5 m), it is the third-largest salamander in the world, only being surpassed by the very similar and closely related Chinese giant salamander and the South China giant salamander.
Japanese giant salamander
Japanese giant salamanders in Tottori Prefecture, Japan, showing notable color variation among individuals within the same population.
Andrias japonicus skull
Ukiyo-e print by Utagawa Kuniyoshi depicting a giant salamander being stabbed by the samurai Hanagami Danjō no jō Arakage
The Cryptobranchidae are a family of fully aquatic salamanders commonly known as the giant salamanders. They include some of the largest living amphibians. The family is native to China, Japan, and the eastern United States. They constitute one of two living families—the other being the Asiatic salamanders belonging to the family Hynobiidae—within the Cryptobranchoidea, one of two main divisions of living salamanders.
Giant salamander
Fossil and recent Andrias skeletons, Paläontologische Institut und Museum, Universitat Zurich.
Andrias scheuchzeri