I’m surprised no one is bringing up the possibility that this is just a salamander in its axolotl looking stage of life.

FTA: the nine-inch Mexican axolotl

There aren’t many baby salamanders that size, but https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chinese_giant_salamander#Breed... says “external gills remain until a length of about 20 cm (8 in) at an age of 3 years”, so it could be. I wouldn’t know whether these look similar, though.