Anatomy

As you can see from the pictures, Axolotl has quite a grotesque appearance. In the pictures showing the axolotls in its larval stage you can see the head with round eyes, two holes for the aspiration of air oxygen, the mouth, fringed external gills, the body, tail trimmed with a fin, two pairs of limbs and a cloaca. There are 4 fingers on the front legs and 5 on the rear. But sometimes the fingers may grow together forming sort of a membrane. Sometime the fingers may seem to have black claws at the tips, but it isn’t so. If your axolotl has black fingertips it is a sign that it is ready to reproduce. After going through metamorphosis, the adult axolotl no longer has the fin on its back neither along its tail and the external gills disappear as well. A fully developed larva or the adult measures around 35 centimetres in length including the tail. Of course, it will not reach this size without sufficient space and suitable conditions. But in proper environment even the undersized individuals can produce healthy offspring of normal size.

So far, I have not been able to find out from a trustful source of information, how long can axolotls live. Once I heard in certain TV show (perhaps too old to be in the archive) that axolotls in lab conditions can live up to 10 years. This information seems a bit underestimated for I have individuals of about 8 years old. As the life span of other caudate amphibians commonly exceeds 20 years, I dare say that it can be similar with axolotls and perhaps they can live up to 25 years of age. Nevertheless, throughout their life they can remain in the larval stage without ever changing into an adult. Axolotl is a cold-blooded carnivorous animal. These two basic characteristics fundamentally influence the general morphology of its body. The body organs are adapted to its meat-based diet. The mouth is relatively wide and large to enable quick and thorough snatching of its prey.