Water opossum
Chironectes minimus (Zimmermann, 1780)
The water opossum (Chironectes minimus), also called the yapok, is a marsupial mammal in the family Didelphidae and the order Didelphimorphia. It is a small, nocturnal, terrestrial carnivore with an adult body mass of 946 g.
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Quick facts about the water opossum
It reaches sexual maturity at 304.4 days and has 3.6 young per litter, with 1.1 litters per year. The IUCN Red List classifies it as Least Concern, which is not a threatened category.
- Weight
- 604 g – 946 gsrc for Weight
- Length
- Not recorded
- Lifespan
- 3 yearssrc for Lifespan
- Diet
- Carnivoresrc for Diet
- Longest recorded lifespan
- 3.16 years
- Main food
- Not recorded
- Habitat
- freshwatersrc for Habitat
- Young per litter or clutch
- 2 – 3.62src for Young per litter or clutch
- Age at maturity
- 10 monthssrc for Age at maturity
- Litters or clutches a year
- 1.1src for Litters or clutches a year
- Active
- At night (nocturnal)src for Active
- Lifestyle
- Terrestrialsrc for Lifestyle
- Conservation status
- Least Concern (IUCN)src for Conservation status
- Countries on record
- Not recorded
Photos of the water opossum
Only freely licensed photos are shown. Each carries its creator and licence.
,_Uruguay,_1998,.jpg){kind=link}
Where does the water opossum live?
Not recorded
What is the water opossum?
The water opossum (Chironectes minimus), also locally known as the yapok (), is a marsupial of the family Didelphidae. It is the only monotypic species of its genus, Chironectes. This semiaquatic creature is found in and near freshwater streams and lakes from Mexico through Central and South America to Argentina and is the most aquatic living marsupial (the lutrine opossum also has semiaquatic habits). It is also the only extant marsupial species in which both sexes have a pouch. The now extinct thylacine, commonly referred to as the Tasmanian tiger, also exhibited this trait.
The local name for the water opossum, "yapok", may come from the name of the Oyapock River in French Guiana.
From the Wikipedia article “Water opossum” (en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Water_opossum&oldid=1382865911), 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 water opossum endangered?
The water opossum 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. What the categories mean.
How is the water opossum classified?
- kingdomAnimalia
- phylumChordata
- classMammalia
- orderDidelphimorphia
- familyDidelphidae
- genusChironectes
- SpeciesChironectes minimus (Zimmermann, 1780)
Synonyms Chironectes minimus langsdorffi, Lutra minima
Other names and names in other languages (34)
- YapokEnglish
- أبوسوم الماءArabic
- vačice vydříCzech
- SchwimmbeutlerGerman
- YapSpanish
- Comadreja de aguaSpanish
- Cuica de AguaSpanish
- Perrito de AguaSpanish
- Raposa de AguaSpanish
- Tacuazín de aguaSpanish
- Tlacuache acuáticoSpanish
- YapóSpanish
- Zarigüeya de aguaSpanish
- Zorro de aguaSpanish
- kalastajaopossumiFinnish
- YapockFrench
- Opossum aquatiqueFrench
- Sarigue aquatiqueFrench
- Sarigue d’eauFrench
- vízioposszum (yapok)Hungarian
- VatnapokarottaIcelandic
- Sariga d'acquaItalian
- Opossum acquaticoItalian
- ミズオポッサムJapanese
- PungoterNorwegian Bokmål
- VannopossumNorwegian Bokmål
- JapokPolish
- japok wodnyPolish
- Cuíca-d'águaPortuguese
- ПлавунRussian
- Водяной опоссумRussian
- PungutterSwedish
- Su oposumuTurkish
- yapokroot
Catalogue of LifeWikipediaiNaturalistTAXREFWikidataIUCN Red List
Relatives of the water opossum
Other species in the same family Didelphidae.
Virginia opossum
Didelphis virginiana
Common opossum
Didelphis marsupialis
Black-shouldered opossum
Caluromysiops irrupta
Linnaeus's mouse opossum
Marmosa murina
Bushy-tailed opossum
Glironia venusta
White-eared opossum
Didelphis albiventris
CompareWater opossum vs Virginia opossumWater opossum vs Common opossumWater opossum vs Black-shouldered opossumWater opossum vs Linnaeus's mouse opossum
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 water opossum?
The water opossum is a marsupial mammal in the family Didelphidae, order Didelphimorphia.
How heavy is a water opossum?
An adult water opossum weighs 946 g, and the lowest adult body mass reported by our sources is 604 g.
What does the water opossum eat?
The water opossum is a carnivore.
Is the water opossum endangered?
No. The IUCN Red List lists it as Least Concern, which is not a threatened category.
How long does a water opossum live?
The water opossum has a lifespan of 3 years, and our sources report values up to 3.2 years.
How many young does a water opossum have?
The water opossum has 3.6 young per litter, with a lowest reported value of 2, and 1.1 litters per year.
Who named the water opossum?
The water opossum, Chironectes minimus, was named by (Zimmermann, 1780).
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). - 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). - 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).
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). Water opossum (Chironectes minimus). Retrieved from https://creaturedata.com/animals/water-opossum
“Water opossum (Chironectes minimus).” CreatureData, 2026, https://creaturedata.com/animals/water-opossum.
@misc{water_opossum_2026,
title = {Water opossum (Chironectes minimus)},
author = {{CreatureData}},
year = {2026},
url = {https://creaturedata.com/animals/water-opossum},
note = {Data as of 2026-11-11}
}