Gegeneophis ramaswamii | |
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Scientific classification | |
Kingdom: | Animalia |
Phylum: | Chordata |
Class: | Amphibia |
Order: | Gymnophiona |
Clade: | Apoda |
Family: | Indotyphlidae |
Genus: | Gegeneophis |
Species: | G. ramaswamii |
Binomial name | |
Gegeneophis ramaswamii Taylor, 1964 | |
Gegeneophis ramaswamii, common names Tenmalai caecilian, [1] [2] Tenmalai blind caecilian, [3] Ramaswami's caecilian, [1] [2] and forest caecilian [4] [5] is a species of caecilian. It is endemic to the southern portion of the Western Ghats, India, and is recorded from Kerala and Tamil Nadu. [1] [2] The specific name ramaswamii honours L. S. Ramaswami, an Indian herpetologist. [6]
Gegeneophis ramaswamii is a relatively large caecilian with a total body length of 182–340 mm (7.2–13.4 in). The colouration is greyish dorsally and light grey ventrally. The eyes are not visible. Its tentacles are placed just behind and below the level of the nostrils. The terminus of the body is wider than rest of the body. [7] [4]
Gegeneophis ramaswamii occurs in wet evergreen forests, plantations, low-intensity agricultural land, at forest fringes, and along streams and rivers at elevations below 900 m (3,000 ft). It is largely subterranean and lives in soil. The eggs are laid terrestrially. The development is direct, without a free-living larval stage. [1]
This species can be very abundant locally, [1] and is considered the most abundant species of caecilian within its range. [8] It adapts to agricultural areas is not believed to be facing any significant threats. It is known to occur in some protected areas. [1]
Ichthyophis beddomei is a species of caecilian in the family Ichthyophiidae. This species is distributed widely in the Western Ghats in southern India. The nominal species might be a composite of several cryptic species. It is also known as the yellow-striped caecilian, Beddome's caecilian, or Nilgherries caecilian.
The Bombay caecilian is an amphibian found in India. This rather large species is found in the northern Western Ghats. The eyes are distinct and surrounded by a light ring. The tentacle is placed closer to the lip than the eye. A dark brown or greyish-brown species, it has no lateral stripes.
Ichthyophis garoensis, the Garo Hills caecilian, is a species of caecilian found in Assam and Meghalaya in north-eastern India. The Husain's caecilian Ichthyophis husaini was until 2016 considered a separate species. It is a subterranean caecilian that lives in the moist leaf-litter of tropical forests. It is typically found close to streams and other waterbodies.
Ichthyophis tricolor, the three-colored caecilian or Maddatorai caecilian, is an amphibian endemic to the Western Ghats, India. Its taxonomic status is unclear, including its relationship with Ichthyophis beddomei and the possibility of cryptic species.
Uraeotyphlus interruptus, also known as the Chengalam caecilian, is a species of caecilian in the family Ichthyophiidae. It is endemic to the Western Ghats in southern India and is only known from its type locality, Chengalam village in Kerala.
Uraeotyphlus malabaricus is a species of caecilian in the family Ichthyophiidae. It is endemic to the Western Ghats of India and is known from its type locality, "Malabar" in Kerala, and from the Nilgiri mountains in Tamil Nadu. It is known with several common names: Malabar tailed caecilian, Nilgiris caecilian, Malabar caecilian, and white-lipped caecilian.
Uraeotyphlus menoni, also known as Menon's caecilian or Kerala caecilian, is a species of caecilian in the family Ichthyophiidae. It is endemic to the state of Kerala in the Western Ghats, India. The specific name menoni honours K. Ramunni Menon, collector of the holotype who later became the vice-chancellor of the University of Madras.
Uraeotyphlus oxyurus, also known as the red caecilian, sharp-nosed caecilian, dark-brown caecilian, pale-throated caecilian, or harp-tailed caecilian, is a species of caecilian in the family Ichthyophiidae. It is endemic to the Western Ghats in Kerala and Tamil Nadu, southern India.
Gegeneophis carnosus is a species of caecilian found in Karnataka and Kerala states, India. Its common name Periah Peak caecilian refers to its type locality, though it is also known under names blind caecilian and pink blind caecilian.
Gegeneophis madhavai, the Mudur caecilian, is a species of caecilian found in India. It is only known from its type locality Mudur village, Kundapura Taluk in Udupi district in Karnataka.
Gegeneophis seshachari, the Seshachari's caecilian, is a species of caecilian found in the Western Ghats of India. It is only known from its type locality Dorle village, Ratnagiri district in Maharashtra.
Battersby's caecilian is a slender species of caecilian endemic to the Western Ghats, India. It has a flesh-coloured body, making it look very much like a large earthworm.
The Western Ghats in India are home to several species of caecilians (Gymnophiona). Caecilians are legless, burrowing amphibians which mostly live in leaf litter, loose soil, under rocks and decaying logs. They are also found in agricultural fields and only surface during the monsoon. The body is elongated and smooth with a slimy skin. The smaller caecilians superficially resemble earthworms while the larger ones are often mistaken for snakes. However, they can be told apart from earthworms by the presence of eyes, teeth and skeleton and from snakes by the lack of scales on skin. The eyes in caecilians are not well developed which is most likely to be because of their burrowing life style. They are considered as rare which is apparently due to their subterranean habits. To see them one has to search carefully and be at the right place and at the right time. There are few places where they are common, but, at least one species was reported to be abundant in agricultural fields in Kerala. The larger caecilians can resemble snakes, but their skin is smooth, not scaly.
Boulengerula fischeri is a species of caecilian in the family Herpelidae. It is endemic to Rwanda and only known from around its type locality near Cyangugu, southwestern Rwanda. The specific name fischeri honours Eberhard Fischer, a German botanist who has worked with Rwandan fauna and flora. Common name Fischer's African caecilian has been coined for it. Live animals have the appearance of "live pink spaghetti".
Uraeotyphlus oommeni, sometimes known as the Oommen's caecilian, Oommen's Uraeotyphlus, or Bonnacord caecilian, is a species of caecilian in the family Ichthyophiidae. Within Uraeotyphlus, it belongs to the U. malabaricus group showing no obvious external differentiation between primary and higher-order annuli. This species is endemic to the Western Ghats and only known from its type locality, Bonaccord, Thiruvananthapuram district, southern Kerala. Very little is known about this species known only from a single specimen collected from an imprecise location.
Gegeneophis is a genus of amphibians in the family Indotyphlidae. They are found in southern and northeastern India.
Gegeneophis primus is a species of caecilian discovered in Wynad district in the Western Ghats of Kerala, India. The species was described in 2012 by Ramachandran Kotharambath, Mark Wilkinson, and colleagues.
Gegeneophis goaensis, also known as the Goa caecilian, is a species of caecilian known from its type locality in Keri Village, Sattari Taluk, in the North Goa district of Goa, India.
Ichthyophis kodaguensis, also known as the Kodagu striped Ichthyophis, is a species of caecilian in the family Ichthyophiidae. It is endemic to the southern Western Ghats, India. All confirmed records are from southern Karnataka state, although it is also reported from adjacent Kerala.