Japanese Black Salamander

Japanese Black Salamander (Hynobius nigrescens) is a dark Japanese hynobiid whose aquatic larvae bear external gills and fins before metamorphosing into lunged, four-legged juveniles. Identification should combine body proportions, colour, skin texture and locality because closely related Japanese salamanders can be difficult to separate. Claims are limited to species accounts opened for this batch (Wikipedia, general species account). Field identification should remain cautious wherever full diagnostic measurements or clear photographs are unavailable.

It is endemic to Japan and uses forest, grassland, swamps, marshes, irrigated land, canals and ditches. Information absent from those species-level sources is omitted rather than transferred from relatives. Japanese occurrence follows the catalogue and opened distribution account, without relying on IUCN conservation material (Wikipedia, general species account; Wildlife of Japan occurrence records). This wording keeps limitations in the available species evidence explicit for readers and future review.