The Honolulu Zoo wants to bring Japanese giant salamanders to Hawaii, an idea that might be helped by the recent signing of a “sister zoo” agreement last month with the Asa Zoo in Hiroshima.
They’re known as Ōsanshōuo, or “giant pepper fish.” When frightened, it secretes an ooze that smells like sansho pepper, a common seasoning for unagi.
They’re not a fish, though. Salamanders are amphibians. They’re also losing their natural habitat to development and invasive species, and susceptible to the chytrid fungus that’s infecting amphibians worldwide.
From left, Joe Schmick, Laura
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