Ultra-rare Mexican walking fish found in stunned family's garden pond

Ultra-rare Mexican walking fish found in stunned family's garden pond

By Katie Timms

Source: dailystar

3/2/2021

Daniella Marley, of Plymouth, believes their critically endangered Mexican salamander eggs are the only wild ones in the UK and said: "We've got no clue how they got there"
A family has been stunned to find very rare "Mexican walking fish" growing in their garden pond.

Daniella Marley, 19, and her mother found eggs of the critically endangered salamander behind their home in Widwell, Plymouth.

The pair first mistook them for frogspawn as they collected them in a bucket for their neighbour to help her home-school her children.

Five days later Daniella told PlymouthLive she got a message back from her saying: "These aren't frogs."

She and her mum then brought in some of the 'frogspawn' and the eggs began to grow "little gills".

Two pet shops confirmed the eggs were actually axolotl eggs - a critically endangered amphibian native to Mexico.

The neotenic salamander's scientific name is ambystoma mexicanum and is related to the tiger salamander.