Description
This species of caecilian is medium sized, ranging in length from 207-245 mm (Daniel 2002). It is violet to lavender in color dorsally, with a yellowish-cream groove. Its body is relatively wide and its head slim (Chanda 2002). Tentacles are located on the ventral side of its snout, visible only from below and protruding slightly farther than the nostril, but much closer to the nostril than the eye (Chanda 2002). It has approximately 166-172 folds around the body (Daniel 2002). Four rows of splenial teeth are concealed by a smooth, acute tongue (Pillai and Ravichandran 1999). The tongue is pointed (Taylor 1968). There are three to four rows of small unequal scales at the middle of the body, and six rows in both the primary and secondary folds (Chanda 2002).

Distribution and Habitat

Country distribution from AmphibiaWeb's database: India

View distribution map in BerkeleyMapper.

Cochin, Kerala, in India

Possible reasons for amphibian decline

General habitat alteration and loss

References

Daniel, J. C. (2002). The Book of Indian Reptiles and Amphibians. Bombay National History Society, Delhi.

Pillai, R. S. and Ravichandran, M.S. (1999). ''Gymnophiona (Amphibia) of India: A taxonomic study.'' Records of the Zoologial Survey of India, 172, 1-117.

Taylor, E.H. (1968). The Caecilians of the World. A Taxonomic Review. University of Kansas Press, Lawrence, Kansas.

Species Account Citation: AmphibiaWeb 2009 Uraeotyphlus menoni <https://amphibiaweb.org/species/2028> University of California, Berkeley, CA, USA. Accessed Jan 18, 2025.

Citation: AmphibiaWeb. 2025. <https://amphibiaweb.org> University of California, Berkeley, CA, USA. Accessed 18 Jan 2025.

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