Beastfile · Amphibians

Axolotl

Ambystoma mexicanum

Also known as Mexican Walking Fish

A salamander that never grows up, and regrows almost anything.

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Overview

The axolotl is a salamander that stays a larva for life. Most amphibians metamorphose, losing their gills and moving onto land; the axolotl keeps its feathery external gills, keeps its tail fin and simply breeds in the larval form, a condition called neoteny. It is also the most capable regenerator among vertebrates, rebuilding not just limbs but jaw, spinal cord and parts of the heart and brain, with little or no scarring. It is abundant in laboratories and home aquariums worldwide, and almost gone from the single wild place it comes from.

An axolotl resting on a dark substrate, gills and permanent smile visible

Origin

Endemic to the lake system of Xochimilco in Mexico City, now reduced to a network of canals and channels that is a fraction of the original wetland.

Habitat

Freshwater

Notable Traits

•Stays in larval form for life, keeping external gills
•Regrows limbs, spinal cord, jaw and parts of the heart and brain
•Regenerates with little or no scar tissue
•Breathes through gills, skin and simple lungs
•Wild color is dark and mottled; the familiar pink is a captive variant

Conservation

Critically Endangered in the wild, with surveys finding very few remaining individuals, driven by urban expansion, water quality and introduced fish. The species is nonetheless extremely common in captivity, which makes its status easy to misread.