📸 PhotoPhoto: Accipiter (R. Altenkamp, Berlin) · CC BY-SA 3.0 · Wikimedia Commons Source
Eurasian Water Shrew
Neomys fodiens (Eurasian Water Shrew · ミズトガリネズミ)
💡 Everyday Comparisons for Size, Mass & Speed
- 💡 An average weight of 15 g is similar to two Korean 500-won coins (about 15.4 g), and a body length of 8 cm is slightly longer than half of a ballpoint pen (about 14 cm) (Comparison).
- 💡 Because it eats insect larvae, it helps reduce insects that bother people, and it spends the winter around unfrozen reservoirs.
Reference standards: coach bus ~12 m, mid-size car ~4.9 m, compact car ~1 t, basketball hoop 3.05 m, credit card 8.56 cm.
Site-computed relative index from recorded values; not a formal scientific metric.
📖 1. Overview
The Eurasian Water Shrew is a waterside shrew living along streams, rivers, and lakes that dives to catch underwater prey.
🦴 2. Anatomy & Morphology
Its upperparts are black and its underparts are white, with a sharp boundary between the two colors. Stiff bristles lining the underside of the tail and the paws are thought to aid in swimming, and the tips of its teeth are red.
🔍 3. Ecology & Behavior
It preys on snails, aquatic insects, small fish, and frogs, using venomous saliva from its submaxillary glands to weaken prey. It dives for up to about 20 seconds at a time and does not hibernate.
🇰🇷 4. Connection to Korea
It is listed as "Gaetcheomseo" (Korean name) in the National List of Species of Korea and recorded as occurring in northern Korea.
📚 Sources & References
- • IUCN Red List LC (2016) — https://www.iucnredlist.org/species/29658/115170106
- • IUCN Red List category LC — latest assessment at iucnredlist.org
- • mammaldiversity.org — 1004202
- • iucnredlist.org — 115170106
- • 국가생물종목록(국립생물자원관) ktsn 120000053238 — https://species.nibr.go.kr/home/mainHome.do?cont_link=009&subMenu=009002&contCd=009002&ktsn=120000053238
- • wikidata.org — Q465986
- • commons.wikimedia.org — File:Neomys fodiens TF 090829.jpg
- • species.nibr.go.kr — mainHome.do
- • animaldiversity.org — Neomys fodiens
- • Silhouette: PhyloPic — Leonardo Ancillotto · CC0 1.0 (Related taxon silhouette — Crocidura suaveolens)
Recorded dimensions are widely cited representative estimates from public literature and may vary by study or specimen.