Genus Chironectes
"Yapok" or "Water Opossum"
Chironectes Pictures
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The scientific names are from the photo's original source (though I corrected some of the spelling or family names.)
Interesting that the other photos have white stripes on the side but the one from Jorge Orejula does not.
Chironectes minimus
(Zimmermann, 1780)
Names
Their original name was "Latra minima". The Smithsonian lists these synonums for "Chironectes minimus", including; argyrodytes, bresslaui, cayennensis, guianensis, gujanensis, langsdorffi, palmata, panamensis, paraguensis, sarcovienna, variegatus and yapock.
- English: Water opossum
- Costa Rica: Zorro de Agua
- Czech: vydrovec krysí
- Czech: vačice vydří
- German: Schwimmbeutler oder Yapok
- Honduras: Perrito de agua
- Russian: ВОДЯНОЙ ОПОССУМ
- Spanish: Comadreja de Agua
- Spanish: Chichica
- Spanish: Raposa de Agua
- Spanish: Raton de Agua
- Spanish: Tlacuache Acuático
- Spanish: Zorro de Agua
- Portuguese: Cachorro d'Água
- Portuguese: Cuíca-d'Água
These opossums are found in Argentina (northeast), Brazil (Southeast), Belize, Colombia, Costa Rica, Ecuador, French Guiana, Guatemala, Guyana, Honduras, Mexico (southern, Oaxaca, Tabasco), Nicaragua, Panama, Peru, Paraguay, Suriname, El Salvador, Trinidad & Tobago and Venezuela. They are found from lowlands to 1800m. They are not currently endangered but may be considered near threatened. They are primarily nocturnal, terrestrial and semi-aquatic. The "water opossum" is unsurprisingly found near streams or rivers in forested areas. Also favors fast-flowing, rock-or-gravel-bottomed streams in hilly country. Their physical characteristics are slightly different from the other opossums and more suited to their water environment. Their tail is less prehensile than the the other opossums; they use it only for carrying nesting material and not for climbing. The pads on their hands and feet are rough to assist with grabbing slippery fish. Their diet includes crustaceans, fish, frogs and insects. The longest recorded lifespan in captivity is 2.9 years (Carey & Judge, 2001). Both males and females have a watertight pouch - for the female it protects the young, for the males it protects the scrotum. Their weight ranges from 600-800 grams (Fowler, 2001), or 604-790g according to Field Guide To The Mammals of Central America. These are the only opossums that will dive into water to escape when threatened.
They are described as:
"Medium sized, strikingly market; semiaquatic. Upperparts pale gray with 4 broad, chocolate-brown to black bands across back, joined by a narrow, dark line down spine; underparts pure white. Fur short and dense. Ears short, blackish. Eyeshine bright, reddish. Tail broad at base, furred like body for 30-40mm, then naked, mainly black with a short white tips. Hind feet webbed between all toes; forefeet broad with long, slender toes; long bone of hand projects to form a sixth "finger". Pouch present in female and male."
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