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Otters are carnivorous in the subfamily Lutrinae. The 14 extant otter species are all semiaquatic, both freshwater and marine ecosystem. Lutrinae is a branch of the Mustelidae family, which includes , , mink, and , among other animals.
Otters' habitats include dens known as holts or couches, with their social structure described by terms such as dogs or boars for males, bitches or sows for females, and pups or cubs for offspring. Groups of otters can be referred to as a bevy, family, lodge, romp, or raft when in water, indicating their social and playful characteristics. Otters are known for their distinct feces, termed , which can vary in smell from freshly mown hay to putrefied fish.
Otters exhibit a varied life cycle with a gestation period of about 60–86 days, and offspring typically stay with their family for a year. They can live up to 16 years, with their diet mainly consisting of fish and sometimes , birds, or shellfish, depending on the species. Otters are distinguished by their long, slim bodies, powerful webbed feet for swimming, and their dense fur, which keeps them warm and buoyant in water. They are playful animals, engaging in activities like sliding into water on natural slides and playing with stones.
There are 13 known species of otters, ranging in size and habitat preferences, with some species adapted to cold waters requiring a high metabolic rate for warmth. Otter-human interactions have varied over time, with otters being hunted for their , used in otter fishing in southern Bangladesh, and occasionally attacking humans, though such incidents are rare and often a result of provocation. Otters hold a place in various cultures' mythology and religion, symbolizing different attributes and stories, from Norse mythology to Native American and Asian folklore, where they are sometimes believed to possess shapeshifting abilities.
The feces of otters are typically identified by their distinctive aroma, the smell of which has been described as ranging from freshly mown hay to putrefied fish; these are known as .
After one month, the pup can leave the holt and after two months, it is able to swim. The pup lives with its family for approximately one year. Otters live up to 16 years; they are by nature playful, and frolic in the water with their pups. Its usual source of food is fish, and further downriver, eels, but it may sample frogs and birds.
Several otter species live in cold waters and have high to help keep them warm. must eat 15% of their body weight each day, and 20 to 25%, depending on the temperature. In water as warm as , an otter needs to catch of fish per hour to survive. Most species hunt for three to five hours each day and nursing mothers up to eight hours each day.
Otters are active hunters, chasing prey in the water or searching the beds of rivers, lakes or the seas. Most species live beside water, but river otters usually enter it only to hunt or travel, otherwise spending much of their time on land to prevent their fur becoming waterlogged. Sea otters are considerably more aquatic and live in the ocean for most of their lives.
Otters are playful animals and appear to engage in various behaviors for sheer enjoyment, such as making waterslides and sliding on them into the water. They may also find and play with small stones. Different species vary in their social structure, some being largely solitary, while others live in groups – in a few species these groups may be fairly large.
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| Lutrogale |
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| Lontra |
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| Pteronura |
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| Enhydra |
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There has been a long history of otter pelts being worn around the world. In China it was standard for the royalty to wear robes made from them. People that were financially high in status also wore them. The tails of otters were often made into items for men to wear. These included hats and belts. Even some types of mittens for children have been made from the fur of otters.
Otters have also been hunted using dogs, especially the otterhound. From 1958 to 1963, the 11 otter hunts in England and Wales killed 1,065 otters between them. In such hunts, the hunters notched their poles after every kill. The prized trophy that hunters would take from the otters was the baculum, which would be worn as a Tie clip.
Traffic (the wildlife trade monitoring network) reported that otters are at serious risk in Southeast Asia and have disappeared from parts of their former range. This decline in populations is due to hunting to supply the demand for skins.
Animal welfare groups say that, unless threatened, otters rarely attack humans. In November 2021, about 20 river otters ambushed a British man in his 60s during an early morning walk in Singapore Botanic Gardens. Despite weighing over 200 pounds, he was trampled and bitten and could not stand up without help from a nearby rescuer. The man speculated that another runner might have stepped on one of the animals earlier, and wished that there could be more lighting installed at that location.
In Irish mythology, the character Lí Ban was turned from a woman into a mermaid, half human and half salmon, and given three hundred years of life to roam the oceans. Her lapdog assumed the form of an otter and shared her prolonged lifetime and her extensive wanderings.
In some Native American cultures, otters are considered totem animals.
The otter is held to be a clean animal belonging to Ahura Mazda in Zoroastrianism belief, and taboo to kill.
In popular Korean mythology, it is told that people who see an otter ( soodal) will attract 'rain clouds' for the rest of their lives.
In the Noto region, Ishikawa Prefecture, there are stories where they shapeshift into beautiful women or children wearing checker-patterned clothing. If a human attempts to speak to one, they will answer "oraya" and then answer "araya," and if anybody asks them anything, they say cryptic things like "kawai." There are darker stories, such as one from Kaga Province (now Ishikawa Prefecture) in which an otter that lives in the castle's moat shapeshifts into a woman, invites males, and then kills and eats them.
In the kaidan, essays, and legends of the Edo period like the "Urami Kanawa" (), "Taihei Hyaku Monogatari" (), and the "Shifu Goroku" (), there are tales about strange occurrences like otters that shapeshift into beautiful women and kill men.
In the town of Numatachi, Asa District, Hiroshima Prefecture (now Hiroshima), they are called "tomo no kawauso" () and "ato no kawauso" (). It is said that they shapeshift into Bhikkhu (a kind of monk) and appear before passers-by, and if the passer-by tries to get close and look up, its height steadily increases until it becomes a large bōzu.
In the Tsugaru region, Aomori Prefecture, they are said to possess humans. It is said that those possessed by otters lose their stamina as if their soul has been extracted. They are also said to shapeshift into severed heads and get caught in fishing nets.
In the Kashima District and the Hakui District in Ishikawa Prefecture, they are seen as a yōkai under the name kabuso or kawaso. They perform pranks like extinguishing the fire of the paper lanterns of people who walk on roads at night, shapeshifting into a beautiful woman of 18 or 19 years of age and fooling people, or tricking people and making them try to engage in sumo against a rock or a tree stump. It is said that they speak human words, and sometimes people are called and stopped while walking on roads.
In the Ishikawa and Kochi Prefectures, they are said to be a type of kappa, and there are stories told about how they engage in sumo with otters. In places like the Hokuriku region, Kii Province, and Shikoku, the otters are seen as a type of kappa. In the Kagakushū, a dictionary from the Muromachi period, an otter that grew old becomes a kappa.
In an Ainu folktale, in Urashibetsu (in Abashiri, Hokkaido), there are stories where monster otters shapeshift into humans, go into homes where there are beautiful girls, and try to kill the girl and make her its wife.
In China, like in Japan, there are stories where otters shapeshift into beautiful women in old books like In Search of the Supernatural and the Zhenyizhi ().
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