When I visited Barcelona’s aquarium last year, I came across a very strange animal. This animal had a body of a dog and a fish combined. However, the most interesting part about this animal is it’s head. This animal had ears that look like tridents and it had the cutest facial expression. It looks like the happiest animal on earth. The name of this animal is Axolotl.

The name Axolotl comes from the Aztec language. When translated, this name means “water-dog”. The Axolotl was native to both Lake Xochimilco and Lack Chalco, which are both located in Mexico. However, Axolotls are losing their habitats due to the increase in city expansions in Mexico. Axolotls also suffer from many different invasive species like the carp and tilapia. According to Mother Nature Network, “Axolotls are considered a delicacy in Mexico.” The people there like to eat roasted Axolotls.  (Sounds pretty gross) Also due to its cute features, many people capture Axolotls for aquarium trades and some keep them as pets. Due to these factors, there are fewer than 1,200 Mexican Axolotls left and they are currently listed in the endangered species list.

Axolotls are amphibians and they can survive up to 15 year. Their main diet consists of mollusks, worms, insect larvae, crustaceans, and some fish. Axolotls weight around 2.11oz to 8oz and can grow up to a foot in size. Axolotls also vary in color. The colors are: melanoid (black), albino (white in color with red or pink eyes), golden albino, copper, and leucistic (white in color with black eyes). Axolotls live permanently in water and they have rudimentary lungs, which means they can travel on land. However, they breathe primarily through their gills.

The most interesting thing about Axolotls is probably their amazing regeneration abilities and neoteny. As we all know, if we lose our feet it is impossible for us to grow another one back. However, this is possible for Axolotls. If Axolotls lost one of their feet, the feet would usually grow back in a few weeks. (This ability is pretty amazing!). Besides having the awesome ability of regeneration, Axolotls are also “young forever”. This phenomenon is known as neoteny. Neoteny basically means that Axolotls live its whole life in its larval form. It even reaches its sexual maturity in its larval form. After learning about Axolotls, I believe they had just become my favorite aquatic animal.

Sources:

http://animals.nationalgeographic.com/animals/amphibians/axolotl/

http://www.axolotl.org

http://www.mnn.com/earth-matters/animals/photos/10-of-the-cutest-endangered-species/mexican-axolotls