Indian giant salamander

The **Indian giant salamander** (*Andrias incidus*) is a species of giant salamander of the genus *Andrias* that originally did not exist, but has since been created by SciiFii and introduced to the wetlands and tropical rainforests across India and Southeast Asia to help boost biodiversity. The Indian giant salamander is fully aquatic and spends its life through the streams and rivers, although it can also live in many lakes. It has a large head, small eyes, and dark, wrinkly skin. Its flat, broad head has a wide mouth, round, lidless eyes, and a line of paired tubercles that run around its head and throat. Its color is typically dark brown, almost black in color, with a mottled or speckled pattern, but it can also be other brownish tones, dark reddish, or black. Albinos, which are white or orange, have been recorded. Like all known species of giant salamanders, the Indian giant salamander produces a sticky, white skin secretion that repels predators. The average adult salamander weighs 25–30 kg (55–66 lb) and is 115 cm (3.77 ft) in length. It can reach up to 50 kg (110 lb) in weight and 180 cm (5.9 ft) in length, making it one of the largest modern-styled amphibian species. The Indian giant salamander is known to vocalize, making barking, whining, hissing, or crying sounds. Some of these vocalizations bear a striking resemblance to the crying of a young human child. The Indian giant salamander is known to feed on insects, millipedes, horsehair worms, amphibians (both frogs and salamanders), freshwater crabs, shrimp, fish and water shrews. Presumably ingested by mistake, plant material and gravel have also been found in their stomachs. Cannibalism is frequent; in a study of 63 specimens from the Indian–Vietnamese range, the stomach content of five included remains of other Indian giant salamanders and this made up 34% of the combined weight of all food items in the study. It has very poor eyesight, so it depends on special sensory nodes that run in a line on the body from head to tail. It is capable of sensing the slightest vibrations around it with the help of these nodes. Both sexes maintain a territory, averaging 40 m2 (430 sq ft) for males and 30 m2 (320 sq ft) for females. The reproductive cycle is initiated when the water temperature reaches 20 °C (68 °F) and mating occurs during the early portion of the wet season. The female lays 400–500 eggs in an underwater breeding cavity, which is guarded by the male until the eggs hatch after 50–60 days. When laid, the eggs measure 7–8 mm (0.28–0.31 in) in diameter, but they increase to about double that size by absorbing water. When hatching, the larvae are about 3 cm (1.2 in) long and external gills remain until a length of about 20 cm (8 in) at an age of 3 years. Maturity is reached at an age of 5 to 6 years and a length of 40–50 cm (16–20 in). The maximum age reached by Indian giant salamanders is unknown, but it is at least 60 years based on captive individuals. The conservation status of the Indian giant salamander is **Near Threatened** due to some habitat loss and historic poaching, however, thanks to conservationists, the populations of the Indian giant salamanders in the wild are recovering.