final from the Qiantang River (at least in Anhui). Two additional clades were only known from captivity (their wild range is unknown) and no samples are available for the population in the Tibetan Plateau. A 2019 study has identified that the Yangtze River clade comprises the "true" A. davidianus, the Pearl River clade comprises A. sligoi, and the Qiantang clade comprises the undescribed Huangshan Mountains species. A 2022 study identified one of the two clades known only from captivity as A. jiangxiensis, found in the wild only in Jiangxi Province. Finds in Taiwan may be the result of introduction. Chinese giant salamanders have been introduced to the Kyoto Prefecture in Japan where they present a threat to the native Japanese giant salamander, as the two hybridize. The Chinese giant salamander is entirely aquatic and lives in rocky hill streams and lakes with clear water. It typically lives in dark muddy or rocky crevices along the banks. It is usually found in forested regions at altitudes of , with most records between . There is an isolated population at an altitude of in Qinghai (Tibetan Plateau), but its taxonomic position is uncertain and the site likely does not support giant salamanders anymore due to pollution. The salamanders prefer to live in streams of small width (on average, across), quick flow, and little depth (on average, deep). Water temperature varies depending on season, with typical range at low elevation sites being from and at high elevation sites from . Although they prefer to have quick flow in the stream, the burrows in which they lay their eggs often have much slower flow. Furthermore, their habitat often possesses very rocky, irregular stream beds with a lot of gravel and small rocks as well as some vegetation. Chinese giant salamanders are also known from subterranean rivers. As populations in aboveground rivers and lakes are more vulnerable to poaching, there are some parts of China where only the subterranean populations remain. In captivity Farming Very large numbers are being farmed in China, but most of the breeding stock are either wild-caught or first-generation captive-bred. This is partially explained by the fact that the industry is relatively new, but some farms have also struggled to produce second-generation captive-bred offspring. Registrations showed that 2.6 million Chinese giant salamanders were kept in farms in 2011 in Shaanxi alone, far surpassing the entire countrywide wild population estimated at less