AMPHIUMIDAE 99 



quantities of the valuable food-fish Coi^egonvs alhus. Although 

 rather common and easily kept, its larvae still remain un- 

 known. 



C. japonicus s. maximus. — The Giant Salamander of Japan 

 differs from its American relation in one essential point only, 

 namely, by the absence of gill-openings and of the modifications 

 of the branchial apparatus connected therewith. It has but 

 three branchial vessels, and the skeletal arches are reduced to 

 two. It lives in Japan and in China, from 600 to 4500 feet 

 above the level of the sea, in small streams of mountain-meadows. 

 It feeds upon fishes. Amphibia, worms, and insects. It is easily 

 fished with the hook and is eaten by the Japanese. 



The first living specimen was brought to Europe in 1829 by 

 Th. von Siebold, its discoverer. It grew within a few years from 

 1 foot to 3 feet in length, and died in 1881, at least fifty-two 

 years old. Another specimen lived in the Hamburg aquarium 

 for fourteen years, during which time it is said to have grown 

 36 cm. (more than 14 inches), having attained a length of nearly 

 4^ feet, or 134 cm. The largest specimen known measures 159 

 cm = 5 feet 3 inches. 



The life -history of this species is still imperfectly known. 

 Japanese picture-books contain drawings of the adult and of 

 larvae, the latter showing three pairs of fringed external gills. 

 Young specimens of 16 cm. length have already lost the 

 gills, but still retain a cleft on either side of the neck, in the 

 shape of a horizontal slit, and this is soon after closed up l)y 

 the skin. 



The best account has recently been given by Sasaki.^ Accord- 

 ing to him the Giant Salamander leads a solitary life, concealed 

 in dark places, under rocks in swift-flowing, thickly shaded small 

 brooks of clear and cold water. 



The animal may be easily captured with a fish-hook, baited 

 with a fish, frog, or several earth-worms, and tied to a string a 

 few feet in length. This is thrust by the aid of a small bamboo- 

 stick into the salamander's retreat. The string is not tied to 

 the stick, but the point of the loaded hook is forced into one end 

 of it, far enough to keep it in place while this end of the rod is 

 pushed under the rock. When the bait has been thus brought 

 near the salamander, any bite will be instantly felt through the 

 ' J. Coll. Jcqmn. i. 1887. p- 269. 



