Mamushi
Amazing fact
When it senses danger, a mamushi vibrates its tail rapidly to make a warning sound.
札幌市円山動物園
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An illustration based on the real animal.
A little discovery to share.
When it senses danger, a mamushi vibrates its tail rapidly to make a warning sound.
THE REAL WORLD
The real Mamushi
- Scientific name
- Gloydius blomhoffii
- Japanese name
- ニホンマムシ（マムシ）
- Group
- Amphibians and reptiles
- Class
- Reptilia
- Order
- Squamata
- Family
- Viperidae
- Genus
- Gloydius
A venomous snake of Japan that lives in forests and thickets from lowlands to mountains. It likes water and is often seen around rivers and fields.
Its head is triangular, and its body and tail have dark markings shaped like old Japanese coins.
It eats mice, small birds, frogs, lizards and similar animals. Instead of laying eggs, it gives birth to baby snakes.
How the Mamushi lives
In Kyushu, it tends to be active by day in spring and autumn, and by night in summer. It moves very quickly when it bites. The female stores sperm inside her body and uses it for fertilization the following year.
札幌市円山動物園神戸市Basic data
- Size
- Total length: about 50 cm
- Lifespan
- about 10–20 years in captivity
- Diet
- Small mammals, birds and other animals
- Range
- Japan
Where the Mamushi has been recorded
Records: GBIF.org (CC0 and CC BY 4.0 records, retrieved 2026-11-07). Map: Natural EarthSee the records on GBIF
Watch wild animals from a distance. Do not touch or feed them, and take care of the places where they live.
Names around the world
- 日本語
- ニホンマムシ（マムシ）
- 简体中文
- 日本蝮蛇
- 繁體中文
- 日本蝮蛇
- 한국어
- 살무사
- Español
- Mamushi de Blomhoff
- Deutsch
- Mamushi
- Português (Brasil)
- Mamushi
- Italiano
- Mamushi
- Tiếng Việt
- Gloydius brevicaudus
- Русский
- Восточный щитомордник
Names come from Wikidata and iNaturalist records. Where a language has no recorded name, we use the scientific name.
Sources and how we check
- 札幌市円山動物園 — ニホンマムシChecked: 2026-11-03
- 神戸市 — マムシ・ヤマカガシ（毒ヘビ）にご注意！Checked: 2026-11-03
We check each fact against its source. The illustrations simplify how the real animal looks.
The classification (class, order, family, genus) follows Wikidata records, checked against GBIF. Classifications can change as research goes on.
The basic data are the values given in each source. They vary with how the animal is measured, whether it is male or female, and whether it lives in the wild or in captivity.
This page was translated from the original Japanese with the help of AI.
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