>>39244727The fins are where the similarities end.
It's got four legs and the gills, one of the most striking characteristics of aquatic salamanders, are incredibly prominent. They contrast with the rest of the body just to draw your eyes to them. Muskippers don't have gills like that.
There's also the beady salamander eyes, compared to a mudskipper's, which are designed for poking out of the water as it swims near the surface.
Also I don't think you've actually seen an axolotl, mudkip's got a salamander mouth. Look at magikarp for a fish mouth.
These design choices aren't 1:1 because this is pokemon, and if you weren't shitposting you'd concede that.
Wooper is a basic salamander tadpole. You think it's an axolotl because axolotls look like basic salamander tadpoles, but wooper matures into a regular adult salamander (quagsire) while mudkip retains its gills throughout its evolutionary line, the same way an axolotl doesn't naturally mature and lose its gills. I'd attach a picture of a Japanese giant salamander tadpole to illustrate my point but you can look it up yourself.
>>39244723Sorry, not sure about that. I just know animal facts.
>>39244742Show me some concrete proof that mudkip live there and not some other part of Hoenn.
