Andrias japonicus (Temminck, 1836)

Class: Amphibia > Order: Caudata > Family: Cryptobranchidae > Genus: Andrias > Species: Andrias japonicus

Triton japonicus Temminck, 1836, Coup d'oeil sur la Fauna des Îles de la Sonde et de l'Empire du Japon: xxvi. Syntypes: RMNH and (according to Thireau, 1986, Cat. Types Urodeles Mus. Natl. Hist. Nat., Rev. Crit.: 33) MNHNP 7614; including RMNH 2392, 2394, and 18562, and MNHNP 7614, according to Gassó Miracle, van den Hoek Ostende, and Arntzen, 2007, Zootaxa, 1482: 48; RMNH 2392 designated lectotype by Hoogmoed, 1978, Zool. Meded., Leiden, 53: 102. Type locality: "Japon"; invalidly restricted to "Iga, Honshû", Japan, by Okada, 1934, Copeia, 1934: 16, inasmuch this was not based on evidence. Hoogmoed, 1978, Zool. Meded., Leiden, 53: 102, noted that the data associated with the original specimen(s) are: Sakanost'a, a small village at the foot of the "mont Souzouga yama à 15 Ri environ à l´est de Miyako"  and . . . . The mountains are here called 'Suzuka' and are in the province of Omi, 'on the way from Tsuchiyama to Sakanoshita'. It is not clear which of the specimens of the type series is from that locality, but it seems prudent to take this locality as the type locality."

Megalobatrachus sieboldi Tschudi, 1837, Neues Jahrb. Minerl. Geognos. Geol. Petrfakt.-Kunde, Stuttgart, 5: 547. Syntypes: RMNH 2392, 2394, and 18562, and MNHNP 7614according to Gassó Miracle, van den Hoek Ostende, and Arntzen, 2007, Zootaxa, 1482: 48; RMNH 2392 designated lectotype by Hoogmoed, 1978, Zool. Meded., Leiden, 53: 102. Type locality: Japan. Synonymy by Stejneger, 1907, Bull. U.S. Natl. Mus., 58: 6. Possibly a substitute name rather than a new name. Synonymy (with Seiboldia maxima) by Gray, 1850, Cat. Spec. Amph. Coll. Brit. Mus., Batr. Grad.: 52; (with Megalobatrachus maximus) by Boulenger, 1882, Cat. Batr. Grad. Batr. Apoda Coll. Brit. Mus., Ed. 2: 77.

Salamandra maxima Schlegel In Tschudi, 1837, Neues Jahrb. Minerl. Geognos. Geol. Petrfakt.-Kunde, Stuttgart, 5: 546. Syntypes: MNHNP and RMNH, and presumably animal figured by Temminck and Schlegel, 1838, Fauna Japonica, 3: Pl. 8; including RMNH 2392, 2394, and 18562, and MNHNP 7614, according to Gassó Miracle, van den Hoek Ostende, and Arntzen, 2007, Zootaxa, 1482: 56; RMNH 2392 designated lectotype by Hoogmoed, 1978, Zool. Meded., Leiden, 53: 102. See discussion by Bauer, Good, and Günther, 1993, Mitt. Zool. Mus. Berlin, 69: 291, of the types and type localities. Type localities: "Sakanosta", "monts Suzuga jama" (near Sakanosta), and "mont Okude" according to Temminck and Schlegel, 1838, Fauna Japonica, 3: 134-135. Synonymy by Stejneger, 1907, Bull. U.S. Natl. Mus., 58: 6. Synonymy (with Seiboldia maxima) by Leuckart, 1840, Froriep’s Neue Notizen, 13: 19-20; Gray, 1850, Cat. Spec. Amph. Coll. Brit. Mus., Batr. Grad.: 52. See discussion of types and publication dates by Thireau, 1986, Cat. Types Urodeles Mus. Natl. Hist. Nat., Rev. Crit.: 39.

Cryptobranchus japonicus — Van der Hoeven, 1838, Tijdschr. Natuurl. Geschied., 4: 384; Naylor, 1981, Copeia, 1981: 76-86

Hydrosalamandra siboldi — Leuckart, 1840, Froriep’s Neue Notizen, 13: 20. Incorrect subsequent spelling.

Hydrosalamandra japonica — Leuckart, 1840, Froriep’s Neue Notizen, 13: 19-20.

Onycopus sieboldii — Duméril and Bibron, 1841, Erp. Gen., 6: 4.

Sieboldia maxima — Gray, 1850, Cat. Spec. Amph. Coll. Brit. Mus., Batr. Grad.: 52.

Salamandra gigas Duméril, Bibron, and Duméril, 1854, Erp. Gen., 9: 164. Lapsus calami for Salamandra maxima Schlegel.

Tritomegas sieboldii — Duméril, Bibron, and Duméril, 1854, Erp. Gen., 9: 164.

Tritomegas sieboldtii — Duméril, Bibron, and Duméril, 1854, Erp. Gen., 9: 426. Incorrect subsequent spelling.

Salamandra (Megalobatrachus) maxima — Schlegel, 1858, Handl. Dierkd., 2: 61.

Megalobatrachus maximus — Boulenger, 1882, Cat. Batr. Grad. Batr. Apoda Coll. Brit. Mus., Ed. 2: 80.

Cryptobranchus maximus — Chapman, 1893, Proc. Acad. Nat. Sci. Philadelphia, 45: 227.

Andrias japonicus — Lapparent, 1900, Traite Geol., 3: 1532; Estes, 1981, Handb. Palaeoherpetol., 2: 14.

Megalobatrachus japonicus — Beddard, 1904 "1903", Proc. Zool. Soc. London, 1903: 298; Sato, 1943, Monogr. Tailed Batr. Japan: 322-346; Thorn, 1968, Salamand. Eur. Asie Afr. Nord: 106.

Sieboldiana maxima — Ishikawa, 1904, Proc. Dept. Nat. Hist. Tokyo Imp. Mus., 1: 21. Incorrect subsequent spelling of generic name.

Cryptobranchus sieboldia — Calmette, 1907, Les Venins: 330. Incorrect subsequent spelling.

Megalobatrachus japonicus japonicus — Chang, 1936, Contr. Etude Morphol. Biol. Syst. Amph. Urodeles Chine: 82.

Andrias scheuchzeri japonicus — Westphal, 1958, Palaeontographica, Abt. A,, 110: 26.

Common Names

Giant Salamander (Wood, 1863, Illust. Nat. Hist., 3: 184 [as Seiboldia maxima]; Cochran, 1961, Living Amph. World: 20).

Japanese Giant Salamander (Cochran, 1961, Living Amph. World: 20; Frank and Ramus, 1995, Compl. Guide Scient. Common Names Amph. Rept. World: 27; Goris and Maeda, 2004, Guide Amph. Rept. Japan: 5).

Distribution

Southwestern portion of the Island of Honshu northeast to the Prefecture of Gifu, the island Shikoku, and on the Island of Kyushu only in the Prefecture of Oita, Japan; possibly in Far East Russia (see comment).

Geographic Occurrence

Natural Resident: Japan

Endemic: Japan

Comment

Reviewed (as Megalobatrachus japonicus) by Sato, 1943, Monogr. Tailed Batr. Japan: 322-346. See Hoogmoed, 1978, Zool. Meded., Leiden, 53: 92, for discussion of the obscure description. Thorn and Raffaëlli, 2000, Salamand. Ancien Monde: 142-147, and Goris and Maeda, 2004, Guide Amph. Rept. Japan: 5-7, provided accounts. Kuzmin and Maslova, 2003, Adv. Amph. Res. Former Soviet Union, 8: 344-345, noted the possible occurrence of this taxon in the vicinity of Vladivostok, Far East Russia. Raffaëlli, 2007, Les Urodèles du Monde: 67, provided a brief account. Raffaëlli, 2013, Urodeles du Monde, 2nd ed.: 85, provided a brief account, photo, and map. Matsui, Komada, Yamada, Takada, Nishikawa, Tominaga, and Tanaka-Ueno, 2018, Curr. Herpetol., Kyoto, 37: 23–29, reported on genetic uniformity in the Kiso River of central Japan. See detailed account, photographs, and polygon distribution map provided by Raffaëlli, 2022, Salamanders & Newts of the World: 20–23, provided an account with photographs and range map, and who noted widespread hybridization in natural habitat with imported Andrias davidianus. Hara, Nishikawa, Matsui, and Yoshimura, 2023, Zootaxa, 5369: 42–56, described the comparative morphology of Andrias davidianus and Andrias japonicus and their hybrids. Duret, Bartet, Hambuckers, Kishida, Okada, Taguchi, Takahashi, and Denoël, 2025, Frontiers Biogeograph., e133105: 1–17, reported on loss of habitat suitability and distribution range under climate change

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