# Water opossum (*Chironectes minimus*)

Canonical page: https://creaturedata.com/animals/water-opossum  
Data as of: 2026-11-11

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. 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.

## Quick facts

| Fact | Value |
|---|---|
| Weight | 604 g – 946 g |
| Length | Not recorded |
| Lifespan | 3 years |
| Diet | Carnivore |
| Longest recorded lifespan | 3.16 years |
| Main food | Not recorded |
| Habitat | freshwater |
| Young per litter or clutch | 2 – 3.62 |
| Age at maturity | 10 months |
| Litters or clutches a year | 1.1 |
| Active | At night (nocturnal) |
| Lifestyle | Terrestrial |
| Conservation status | Least Concern (IUCN) |
| Countries on record | Not recorded |

## Classification

- kingdom: Animalia
- phylum: Chordata
- class: Mammalia
- order: Didelphimorphia
- family: Didelphidae
- genus: Chironectes
- species: *Chironectes minimus* (Zimmermann, 1780)

Synonyms: *Chironectes minimus langsdorffi*, *Lutra minima*

## Common questions

### 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

- [An amniote life-history database to perform comparative analyses with birds, mammals, and reptiles](https://doi.org/10.6084/m9.figshare.3563457.v1), 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](https://www.checklistbank.org/dataset/316691), 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](https://commons.wikimedia.org), 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](https://doi.org/10.6084/m9.figshare.3559887.v1), 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](https://www.wikidata.org), CC0 1.0, 2026-11-11. Wikidata contributors. Wikidata. https://www.wikidata.org (data retrieved via the Wikidata Query Service).
- [Wikipedia (English)](https://en.wikipedia.org), 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).

Cite as: Water opossum (Chironectes minimus). Retrieved from https://creaturedata.com/animals/water-opossum