Tokyo salamander
Amazing fact
Male Tokyo salamanders compete with each other over females during the breeding season.
上野動物園
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An illustration based on the real animal.
A little discovery to share.
Male Tokyo salamanders compete with each other over females during the breeding season.
THE REAL WORLD
The real Tokyo salamander
- Scientific name
- Hynobius tokyoensis
- Japanese name
- トウキョウサンショウウオ
- Group
- Amphibians and reptiles
- Class
- Amphibia
- Order
- Caudata
- Family
- Hynobiidae
- Genus
- Hynobius
A salamander found from the Kanto region to southern Fukushima, living in mixed woods with springs.
It has a rounded body and short legs. Its color varies: some are ochre, some are nearly black, and some have spots on their sides.
It is active at night. During the day it hides among fallen leaves or in the burrows of moles and mice.
How the Tokyo salamander lives
As larvae, they eat zooplankton and aquatic insects. After changing out of their larval form, they eat spiders, insects and earthworms. They usually live alone. Their breeding season runs from early spring into the rainy season.
上野動物園Basic data
- Size
- Total length: 8–13 cm
- Weight
- 3–10 g
- Active
- At night (nocturnal)
- Diet
- Spiders, insects, earthworms, and other animals
- Range
- Kanto to southern Fukushima Prefecture
- Conservation status in Japan
- Endangered (EN)Ministry of the Environment of Japan, 5th Red List (2026)
Where the Tokyo salamander 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
- トウキョウサンショウウオ
- 简体中文
- 东京小鲵
- 繁體中文
- 東京小鯢
- 한국어
- 도쿄도롱뇽
- Français
- Hynobie de Tokyo
- العربية
- سمندل طوكيو
- Tiếng Việt
- Tokyo Salamander
- Русский
- Токийский углозуб
Names come from Wikidata and iNaturalist records. Where a language has no recorded name, we use the scientific name.
Sources and how we check
- 上野動物園 — トウキョウサンショウウオChecked: 2026-11-03
- Ministry of the Environment of Japan, 5th Red List (2026)Checked: 2026-11-07
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.
The conservation status in Japan is the category in the Red Lists of the Ministry of the Environment of Japan, which assess the risk of extinction for wild animals in Japan.
This page was translated from the original Japanese with the help of AI.
Report a mistakeEXHIBIT INFORMATION
Places that keep or show the Tokyo salamander
Zoos, aquariums and other places whose official websites say they keep or show this animal.
Displays can change with the animals’ health and the seasons. Check each facility’s official website before you go.
RELATIVES
Others in Hynobiidae
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