The Axolotl

The ‘Forever Baby’ Monster

Meet the Axolotl, a relative of the tiger salamander—Ambystoma tigrinum. The Axolotl’s scientific name is Ambystoma mexicanum. (‘Ambystoma’ means “blunt mouth.”)
The word ‘Axolotl’ comes from the Aztec language (Nahuatl) meaning “water monster,” or “water dog.” Indeed, when a normal colored Axolotl (brown, with spots) is viewed face on in an aquarium, with no eyelids, no teeth, three feathery horn-like gills at each side behind its head, it does resemble a funny-faced dragon. The goofy appearance is more pronounced in light pink (leucistic) Axolotls, which look smiley-faced with feathery red gills. Some people pointed out they look like the Pokemon^TM Mudkip.

The secret to this goofy appearance is neoteny—the adult body proportions and parts develop very slowly or never at all. This means that Axolotls are forever babies—retaining tail fins and gills that, in other salamander species, disappear when they totally depend on their lungs and leave the water for dry land. The Axolotl, however, remains in the water. But, even if they have the body characteristics of babies, Axolotls grow in size in the water and they also breed. The ability to breed while retaining baby characteristics is called pedogenesis.
What’s more amazing is the Axolotl’s ability to regrow lost or damaged body parts. While many lizards can grow back lost tails, Axolotls and salamanders can grow back lost limbs, eyes, and other organs. This ability is now being studied by scientists in the hope of bringing this ability to humans
The Axolotl comes in a variety of colors—chocolate brown, near black, leucistic (pink or white with black eyes), white albino or golden albino, grey, cream or piebald (and combinations of these). These variations in color makes the Axolotl a favorite of amphibian-lovers—together with frogs, toads, other salamanders, and newts (OK, maybe not including the presidential candidate).

As pets, Axolotls are kept in largish aquariums (around 40 liters or 11 US gallons) with at least 6 inches of water. Though they have lungs, they rely mostly on their gills to breathe. Since they still have baby characteristics, Axolotls must be protected from skin and gill injuries, hence their aquariums are usually padded with fine sand, not gravel. They should also be kept at temperatures between 17–18°C (63–64°F)—like the temperatures of their native lake habitats.
Since they are carnivores (gulping down whatever smells good to eat in the wild) Axolotls are fed live or dried fish food like earthworms, bloodworms, or even fish food pellets.
Axolotls thrive well in captivity. In fact, if not for their ability to reproduce while captive, Axolotls would be on their way to extinction, because their native lakes—Chalco (drained) and Xochimilco (polluted) are no more. Wild Axolotls are very very endangered.

Axolotl

True Wild Life | Axolotl | The axolotl is a medium-sized amphibian that is only found in one complex of lakes that are close to Mexico City in south-central Mexico. The axolotl is today kept as a popular freshwater aquarium pet all around the world. The axolotl is most closely related to the tiger salamander which inhabits the waters in a similar region of Mexico. However, axolotls can be easily distinguished from salamanders as the axolotl retains it's tadpole-like appearance for it's whole life, therefore axolotls and young tiger salamanders are easily confused.

The axolotl has a flat-shaped broad head that is much wider than the body of the axolotl. The axolotl also has feathery gills which protrude from either side of the head of the axolotl, allowing the axolotl to breath under water. As with newts and salamanders, axolotls are able to regenerate limbs that become damaged or detached meaning that axolotls have been extensively used in scientific experiments around the world. The axolotl is most commonly found in albino form as they spend a great deal of their lives hiding under rocks and in crevices on the bottom of the lake. Although axolotls are generally white or pink in colour, black, grey and brown coloured axolotls can also be found.

The axolotl is a carnivorous animal meaning that the axolotl has a purely meat-based diet. The axolotl eats worms and insect larvae that develop under the surface of the water along with molluscs, crustaceans and some small species of fish. Due to the bottom-dwelling lifestyle of the axolotl, it has surprisingly few natural predators despite it's relatively small size. Birds and large fish are the most common predators of the axolotl along with humans who catch the axolotl to keep as pets in artificial environments.

The axolotl can live for up to 25 years although the average axolotl rarely gets much older than the age of 15. Female axolotls can lay anywhere from 100 to 1,000 eggs which are coated with a sticky substance that helps them to stick to plants and rocks in the water to keep them safe. After about a month of development, tiny axolotl babies emerge into the open water. Today, the axolotl is considered to be a critically endangered species meaning that there are very few axolotl individuals left in the wild. Increasing levels of pollution is the most destructive factor in the survival to the axolotl with the ever-growing size of nearby Mexico City.