Spectacled caiman

Caiman crocodilus (Linnaeus, 1758)

The spectacled caiman (Caiman crocodilus) is a crocodilian reptile in the family Alligatoridae, order Crocodylia. It falls in the medium size class, with a representative adult body mass of 10.9 kg and reported values from 10.55 to 12.21 kg.

Photo: Bernard Gagnon · CC0 · Wikimedia Commons

Quick facts about the spectacled caiman

Its main foods are fish and snail, and it is listed as Least Concern on the IUCN Red List, which is not a threatened category. It produces 1 clutch per year of 23.7 eggs, which incubate for 82 days, and reaches sexual maturity at 6 years.

Weight: 10.6 kg – 12.2 kgsrc for Weight
Length: up to 2.5 msrc for Length
Lifespan: 24.1 yearssrc for Lifespan
Diet: Carnivoresrc for Diet
Longest recorded lifespan: 60 years
Main food: fish, snailsrc for Main food
Habitat: Not recorded
Egg incubation: 82 dayssrc for Egg incubation
Young per litter or clutch: 14 – 40src for Young per litter or clutch
Age at maturity: 4 years – 6 yearssrc for Age at maturity
Litters or clutches a year: 1src for Litters or clutches a year
Reproduction: Eggssrc for Reproduction
Active: At night (nocturnal)src for Active
Conservation status: Least Concern (IUCN)src for Conservation status
Countries on record: Not recorded

Photos of the spectacled caiman

Only freely licensed photos are shown. Each carries its creator and licence.

Spectacled caiman (Caiman crocodilus) — Faunaram · CC BY 4.0 · Wikimedia Commons

Where does the spectacled caiman live?

Not recorded

What is the spectacled caiman?

Quoted from WikipediaCC BY-SA 4.0

The spectacled caiman (Caiman crocodilus), also known as the white caiman, common caiman, and speckled caiman, is a crocodilian in the family Alligatoridae. It is brownish-, greenish-, or yellowish-gray colored and has a spectacle-like ridge between its eyes, which is where its common name come from. It grows to a length of 1.4–2.5 m (4 ft 7 in – 8 ft 2 in) and a weight of 7–40 kg (15–88 lb), with males being both longer and heavier than females. Its diet varies seasonally, commonly consisting of crabs, fish, small mammals, amphibians and snails. Breeding occurs from May to August and 14–40 eggs are laid in July and August. This crocodilian has a large range and population; it is native to much of Latin America, and has been introduced to the United States, Cuba, and Puerto Rico.

From the Wikipedia article “Spectacled caiman” (en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Spectacled_caiman&oldid=1373345434), by Wikipedia contributors, licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0 (creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0). This block is kept separate from our own text.

Is the spectacled caiman endangered?

The spectacled caiman is listed as Least Concern on the IUCN Red List: it is not currently at risk of extinction.

LCLeast Concern
NTNear Threatened
VUVulnerable
ENEndangered
CRCritically Endangered
EWExtinct in the Wild
EXExtinct

Category via Wikidata (CC0). Find the full assessment on the IUCN Red List. See all Least Concern species.

How is the spectacled caiman classified?

kingdomAnimalia
phylumChordata
classReptilia
orderCrocodylia
familyAlligatoridae
genusCaiman
SpeciesCaiman crocodilus (Linnaeus, 1758)

Synonyms Alligator chiapasius, Caiman crocodilus apaporiensis, Caiman crocodilus chiapasius, Caiman crocodilus fuscus, Caiman sclerops, Caiman sclerops apaporiensis, Crocodilus sclerops, Lacerta crocodilus, Perosuchus fuscus

Other names and names in other languages (67)

Common caimanEnglish
Common caimanEnglish
Northern spectacled caimanEnglish
Rio Apaporis caiman (C. c. apaporiensis)English
Speckled caimanEnglish
White caimanEnglish
Gewone KaaimanAfrikaans
الكَيْمَن الشائعArabic
الكَيْمَن المألوفArabic
الكَيْمَن المُنظَّرArabic
الكيمن ذو النظّارةArabic
الكَيْمَن أبو النظَّارةArabic
الكَيْمَن ذو النظّارةArabic
كايمن ذو النظاراتArabic
caimán d'antioyosAsturian
Очилат кайманBulgarian
Kaiman lunedekBreton
Caiman d'ulleresCatalan
kajman brýlovýCzech
BrillekaimanDanish
BrillenkaimanGerman
KrokodilkaimanGerman
Nördlicher BrillenkaimanGerman
Κοινός ΚαϊμάνGreek
CaimánSpanish
BabaSpanish
baba (Venezuela)Spanish
BabillaSpanish
babilla (Colombia)Spanish
cachirreSpanish
Caimán de AnteojosSpanish
cascarudoSpanish
cocodriloSpanish
guajipal (Nicaragua)Spanish
jacareSpanish
Lagarto blancoSpanish
lagarto blanco (Peru)Spanish
ocorocheSpanish
polulo (Mexico)Spanish
tulisioSpanish
Tulisio (Mexico)Spanish
SilmälasikaimaaniFinnish
Caïman à lunettesFrench
קיימן ממושקףHebrew
Kajman naočarCroatian
pápaszemes kajmánHungarian
Caimano dagli occhialiItalian
メガネカイマンJapanese
Очилен кајманMacedonian
BrilkaaimanDutch
kajman okularowyPolish
کائمان مگرمچھWestern Panjabi
TingaPortuguese
Jacaré TingaPortuguese
Jacare tinga (Brazil)Portuguese
Jacaré-do-PantanalPortuguese
JacaretingaPortuguese
Yuraq lagartuQuechua
Крокодиловый кайманRussian
Kajman okuliarnatýSlovak
navadni kajmanSlovenian
обични кајманSerbian
glasögonkajmanSwedish
Gözlüklü KaymanTurkish
Кайман крокодиловийUkrainian
Крокодиловий кайманUkrainian
眼鏡凱門鱷Chinese

Catalogue of Life Wikipedia iNaturalist ITIS TAXREF Wikidata WoRMS IUCN Red List

Relatives of the spectacled caiman

Other species in the same genus Caiman.

Yacare caiman

Caiman yacare

Alligatoridae

Broad-snouted caiman

Caiman latirostris

Alligatoridae

CompareSpectacled caiman vs Yacare caiman Spectacled caiman vs Broad-snouted caiman

Common questions

Each answer is written from the sourced facts on this page, and only where they hold the answer.

What kind of animal is the spectacled caiman?

The spectacled caiman is a crocodilian reptile in the family Alligatoridae and the order Crocodylia.

How heavy is a spectacled caiman?

An adult spectacled caiman has a representative body mass of 10.9 kg, with reported values from 10.55 to 12.21 kg.

What does the spectacled caiman eat?

Its main foods are fish and snail.

Is the spectacled caiman endangered?

No. It is listed as Least Concern (LC) on the IUCN Red List, which is not a threatened category.

How long does a spectacled caiman live?

Its lifespan is given as 24.1 years, with values reported up to 60 years.

How many eggs does a spectacled caiman lay?

It lays 23.7 eggs per clutch and produces 1 clutch per year; the eggs incubate for 82 days.

Who named the spectacled caiman?

The scientific name Caiman crocodilus is credited to (Linnaeus, 1758).

What are other names for the spectacled caiman?

It is also called White caiman, Common caiman, Speckled caiman and Northern spectacled caiman; Rio Apaporis caiman refers to C. c. apaporiensis.

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
Wikimedia Commons · per file (CC0 / public domain / CC BY green, CC BY-SA amber, anything else not displayed) · 2026-11-11
Wikimedia Commons contributors. Wikimedia Commons. https://commons.wikimedia.org (each file credited to its author under its own licence).
ReptTraits: a comprehensive dataset of ecological traits in reptiles · CC BY 4.0 · v1-2
Oskyrko, O., Mi, C., Meiri, S. et al. (2024) ReptTraits: a comprehensive dataset of ecological traits in reptiles. Scientific Data 11: 243. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41597-024-03079-5. Data: https://doi.org/10.6084/m9.figshare.24572683.v4
Wikidata · CC0 1.0 · 2026-11-11
Wikidata contributors. Wikidata. https://www.wikidata.org (data retrieved via the Wikidata Query Service).
Wikipedia (English) · CC BY-SA 4.0 · 2026-11-11
Wikipedia contributors. Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia. https://en.wikipedia.org (text under CC BY-SA 4.0; each block names its article and revision).

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APA

CreatureData. (2026). Spectacled caiman (Caiman crocodilus). Retrieved from https://creaturedata.com/animals/spectacled-caiman

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BibTeX

@misc{spectacled_caiman_2026,
  title = {Spectacled caiman (Caiman crocodilus)},
  author = {{CreatureData}},
  year = {2026},
  url = {https://creaturedata.com/animals/spectacled-caiman},
  note = {Data as of 2026-11-11}
}