Details
Potamogale velox
The giant otter shrew is a small semiaquatic African mammal of forest streams. Otterlike in shape, it hunts aquatic prey at night.
Map: Ecoregions 2017 © RESOLVE (CC BY 4.0) · Natural Earth (PD)
It lives in Afrotropical forest freshwater habitats. Flowing streams, root-tangled banks, fallen logs, and damp margins provide cover.
Length 29-35 cm; weight 300-950 g. The body is slender with dense fur and a long tail, swimming by eel-like body undulations. The feet are small, so propulsion comes mainly from the body and tail.
Nocturnal and solitary, it shelters by day in bank holes or under roots. At night it enters streams and swims actively.
A carnivore, it catches fish, crabs, aquatic insects, and frogs. It searches underwater by sweeping the body and probing along the bottom.
Breeding is poorly conspicuous, but females likely rear small litters in sheltered bankside sites. Young learn to forage along streams.
It is listed as Least Concern. Siltation, logging, and alteration of forest streams can degrade local habitat.
