{"id":464,"date":"2026-07-06T09:40:40","date_gmt":"2026-07-06T08:40:40","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/teamnite.au\/?p=464"},"modified":"2026-07-06T09:40:40","modified_gmt":"2026-07-06T08:40:40","slug":"axolotls","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/teamnite.au\/?p=464","title":{"rendered":"Axolotls"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Introduction<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Axolotls, also commonly known as Mexican Walking fish may seem like simple creatures, but there is more to them than meets the eye. We will see what makes these amphibians so special and their unique adaptations.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Appearance<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Axolotls are a kind of salamander that can grow 30cm in length and weigh up to 300 grams. They have a long dorsal fin, similar to a tadpole and a cylindrical body. Their front legs have 4 toes while the back ones possess 5 toes. Axolotls have webbed feet. They have small dark eyes with no eyelids, small pointy teeth, wide mouths and three pairs of feathered external gills. Their colouration will vary between individual specimens. They are most commonly pale pink or white, although some may be a grey and green mottled colour. Although quite rare, some specimens do lose their juvenile traits and start their life on land. They no longer have feathery gills or long dorsal fins and look similar to other salamander species in terms of body shape.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Life cycle<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Female axolotls lay their eggs on plants under water. After 15 days, the eggs will hatch into larva without any legs. 15 days after hatching, the larva will sprout front legs. 14 days later, they will grow their back legs. Once a year old, axolotls can start to re-produce. In the wild axolotls can live 5-6 years, but in captivity they can live up to 15 years. Particularly when they are young, axolotls will eat each other. Although they are considered paedomorphic species, meaning that the stay in their juvenile form for their whole life, sometimes axolotls go through metamorphosis and become full grown salamanders. This makes them lose their gills and their dorsal fin. \u00a0Throughout their whole life, axolotls have lungs, but they rarely use them when they are in their larval form. Other salamander species may also stay in their juvenile form their whole life if conditions are right. In order to achieve this, there must be a lot of food in the water and few predators. The water quality must be right and it is normal too hard to survive on land.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Diet And Hunting<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Axolotls are carnivores. They eat worms, small fish, insects, shrimp, other axolotls and anything else that they can swallow. These amphibians cannot chew their food even though they have teeth. They hunt by sucking up their prey into their mouth. They are efficient hunters. In captivity they are fed mainly shrimp and salmon pellets. They are ambush hunters and often sit very still, waiting for prey to come to them. Axolotls are mostly night hunters.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Habitat And Population<\/strong><\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Axolotls are native to Lake Xochimilco in Mexico, thus the scientific name Ambystoma mexicanum. They used to live in other lakes as well such as Lake Chalco which no longer exists due to it being drained to avoid flooding. There is a very low population of wild axolotls (50-100 adults) although there are many more in captivity (1 million world-wide). In the wild they are considered critically endangered. In the past, captive bred axolotls have been released to help grow the wild population.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Fun Facts<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n
    \n
  • Although sometimes called the Mexican walking fish, the axolotl is actually an amphibian, like all other salamander species.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0<\/li>\n\n\n\n
  • Axolotls can re-grow limbs and even parts of their brains.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
  • Axolotls are related to tiger salamanders.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
  • Axolotls are resistant to cancer.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n

    Conclusion<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

    Now that you know more about this quirky creature, next time you see one in an aquarium or pet store, take some time to appreciate the strange animal that\u00a0\u00a0lies before you.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

    Introduction Axolotls, also commonly known as Mexican Walking fish may seem like simple creatures, but there is more to them than meets the eye. We will see what makes these amphibians so special and their unique adaptations. Appearance Axolotls are a kind of salamander that can grow 30cm in length and weigh up to 300 […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":465,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"[]"},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-464","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-blog"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/teamnite.au\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/464","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/teamnite.au\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/teamnite.au\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/teamnite.au\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/teamnite.au\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=464"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/teamnite.au\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/464\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":466,"href":"https:\/\/teamnite.au\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/464\/revisions\/466"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/teamnite.au\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/465"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/teamnite.au\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=464"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/teamnite.au\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=464"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/teamnite.au\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=464"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}