The hairy-nosed otter has short fur across the nose pad. Records come from wetlands and shallow coastal waters in Southeast Asia, and fish are a common food.
Short hairs cover the nose pad, while the upper lip and chin are pale.
The hairy-nosed otter occurs alongside other Asian otters that can be difficult to identify during field surveys. On Malaysia’s Selangor coast, researchers tested three DNA-based methods on 33 wild otter spraints. A method targeting a short mitochondrial DNA segment amplified all 33 samples and produced the expected species-specific pattern in 32.
Two methods targeting longer DNA segments amplified 60.6% and 63.6% of the samples. The short-segment method therefore gave the most consistent result in this sample. Identifying otter species from signs left along a river or coast can make distribution surveys more reliable for these elusive animals.
An extinction-risk assessment has not been added yet.
On the Selangor coast, a short DNA test identified a species-specific pattern in 32 of 33 otter spraints. This noninvasive method can support distribution surveys for the hairy-nosed otter.