Otter shrew
Microgale mergulus (Major, 1896)
Status not recordedmammals
The otter shrew (Microgale mergulus) is a species in the family Tenrecidae, order Afrosoricida. Recorded adults weigh 77.7 g to 78.6 g.
No freely licensed photo yet
Quick facts about the otter shrew
- Weight
- 78.6 gsrc for Weight
- Length
- Not recorded
- Lifespan
- Not recorded
- Diet
- Invertivoresrc for Diet
- Main food
- Not recorded
- Habitat
- Not recorded
- Young per litter or clutch
- 2.87src for Young per litter or clutch
- Litters or clutches a year
- 1src for Litters or clutches a year
- Active
- At night (nocturnal)src for Active
- Lifestyle
- Terrestrialsrc for Lifestyle
- Conservation status
- Not recorded
- Countries on record
- Not recorded
Where does the otter shrew live?
Not recorded
Is the otter shrew endangered?
No conservation assessment is recorded for this species in our sources. That is not the same as being safe: it has not been matched to an assessment.
How is the otter shrew classified?
- kingdomAnimalia
- phylumChordata
- classMammalia
- orderAfrosoricida
- familyTenrecidae
- genusMicrogale
- SpeciesMicrogale mergulus (Major, 1896)
Synonyms Limnogale mergulus
Other names and names in other languages (18)
- Aquatic tenrecEnglish
- Web-footed tenrecEnglish
- مدال مكفف القدمArabic
- bodlín vodníCzech
- WassertenrekGerman
- ΥδατομυγαλήGreek
- Tenrec Musaraña Enano de Pies PalmeadosSpanish
- vesitanrekkiFinnish
- LimnogaleFrench
- Microgale plongeurFrench
- Tenrec toporagno acquaticoItalian
- ミズテンレックJapanese
- Trandraka mpitsoboka ranoMalagasy
- VanntenrekNorwegian Bokmål
- WatertenrekDutch
- Tenrek wodnyPolish
- Tenrecznik wodnyPolish
- Болотный тенрекRussian
Relatives of the otter shrew
Other species in the same genus Microgale.
Short-tailed shrew tenrec
Microgale brevicaudata
Cowan's shrew tenrec
Microgale cowani
Lesser long-tailed shrew tenrec
Microgale longicaudata
Dryad shrew tenrec
Microgale dryas
Gracile shrew tenrec
Microgale gracilis
Montane shrew tenrec
Microgale monticola
CompareOtter shrew vs Short-tailed shrew tenrecOtter shrew vs Cowan's shrew tenrecOtter shrew vs Lesser long-tailed shrew tenrecOtter shrew vs Dryad shrew tenrec
Common questions
Answered only where our data holds the answer.
How big is the otter shrew?
An adult otter shrew weighs 78.6 g, according to values recorded on Wikidata.
What kind of animal is the otter shrew?
The otter shrew (Microgale mergulus) belongs to the family Tenrecidae in the order Afrosoricida.
Sources and how to cite this page
Data as of 2026-11-11. How this page is put together.
- An amniote life-history database to perform comparative analyses with birds, mammals, and reptiles · CC0 1.0 · E096-269
Myhrvold, N.P., Baldridge, E., Chan, B., Sivam, D., Freeman, D.L. & Ernest, S.K.M. (2015) An amniote life-history database to perform comparative analyses with birds, mammals, and reptiles. Ecology 96: 3109. https://doi.org/10.1890/15-0846R.1. Data: https://doi.org/10.6084/m9.figshare.3563457.v1 - Catalogue of Life eXtended Release · CC BY 4.0 · 2026-10-16 XR
Catalogue of Life (2026). Catalogue of Life eXtended Release, version 2026-10-16 XR. Catalogue of Life Foundation, Amsterdam, Netherlands. https://doi.org/10.48580/dgzlf - EltonTraits 1.0: species-level foraging attributes of the world's birds and mammals · CC0 1.0 · 1.0
Wilman, H., Belmaker, J., Simpson, J., de la Rosa, C., Rivadeneira, M.M. & Jetz, W. (2014) EltonTraits 1.0: Species-level foraging attributes of the world's birds and mammals. Ecology 95: 2027. https://doi.org/10.1890/13-1917.1. Data: https://doi.org/10.6084/m9.figshare.3559887.v1 - Wikidata · CC0 1.0 · 2026-11-11
Wikidata contributors. Wikidata. https://www.wikidata.org (data retrieved via the Wikidata Query Service).
Embed a card for this animal on your own site
Copy this code. The card shows the photo with its credit, key facts and a link back to this page.
CreatureData. (2026). Otter shrew (Microgale mergulus). Retrieved from https://creaturedata.com/animals/otter-shrew
“Otter shrew (Microgale mergulus).” CreatureData, 2026, https://creaturedata.com/animals/otter-shrew.
@misc{otter_shrew_2026,
title = {Otter shrew (Microgale mergulus)},
author = {{CreatureData}},
year = {2026},
url = {https://creaturedata.com/animals/otter-shrew},
note = {Data as of 2026-11-11}
}