Description
Luetkenotyphlus brasiliensis is a caecilian with a total length ranging from 205 - 320 mm in males and 238 - 300 mm in females. At the jaw articulation, the head width range of males is 4.1 - 6.7 mm while females range from 4.1 - 5.8 mm. In specimens with similar total body length, males appear to have a larger head and body than females. The snout extends 1.4 - 2.3 mm beyond the mouth in males, and 1.2 - 1.8 mm in females. Teeth are the primary diagnostic tool for L. brasiliensis. Males have 12 - 14 premaxillary-maxillary teeth while females have 11 - 14. In both sexes, premaxillary-maxillary teeth did not extend beyond the choanae. Vomeropalatine teeth are also present, with 16 - 20 teeth observed in males and 13 - 23 teeth in females. Nostrils are also observable with the internarial distance ranging from 1.5 - 2.3 mm in males and 1.6 - 2.0 mm in females. The eyes are visible on most specimens, although they were not observable in three out of 15 specimens studied by Mott et al. (2011). Annuli span the length of L. brasiliensis. Adult females can have 125 - 138 annuli, while adult males can have 120 -128. At mid-body, males range from a width of 4.5 - 6.9 mm wide while females range from 4.4 - 6.9 mm (Mott et al. 2011).

DIAGNOSIS:

Within the genus, L. brasiliensis can be distinguished from L. fredi by number of primary annuli and size. Luetkenotyphlus brasiliensis has between 119 and 138 primary annuli, while L. fredi has between 149 - 154. Additionally, L. brasiliensis can be wider than L. fredi with a head width from 4.1 - 6.7 mm and a body width of 4.4 - 7.5 mm while L. fredi has a head width of 4.1 - 5.5 mm and body width of 4.5 - 5.7 mm. Luetkenotyphlus brasiliensis can also be distinguish from L. insulanus by number of primary annuli. L. insulanus has fewer annuli, ranging from 106 - 112 (Maciel et al 2019).

COLORATION:

In life, L. brasiliensis is a deep lavender both ventrally and dorsally. The head is paler than the body, and the skin around lips and vent appear pinkish to pale white (Mott et al. 2011).

In preservation, L. brasiliensis appears gray or brownish. Annuli may appear slightly darker than overall body color (Mott et al. 2011).

VARIATION:

Mott et al. (2011) found evidence of sexual dimorphism in the head size of L. brasiliensis, with males having larger heads than females. The authors also found that specimens collected in Araponga were larger than those found in other areas. Unfortunately, the sample size was not large enough to draw a statistical conclusion. The presence of an anterior diastema in vomerine teeth of the L. brasiliensis has been debated, but there is currently not enough information to determine variability.

Distribution and Habitat

Country distribution from AmphibiaWeb's database: Argentina, Brazil

	View distribution map in BerkeleyMapper.
	View Bd and Bsal data (4 records).

Luetkenotyphlus brasiliensis can be found in the tropical and subtropical forests between eastern Brazil and northeastern Argentina. Two specimens were collected in the Serra do Brigadeiro State Park, in the state of Minas Gerais, Brazil. These specimens were collected at 1350 m above sea level (Mott et al. 2011).

Life History, Abundance, Activity, and Special Behaviors
Luetkenotyphlus brasiliensis is a fossorial species, and spends most of its time underground (Mott et al. 2011).

Trends and Threats
Hydroelectric dams pose a risk to the population of L. brasiliensis. In order to construct the dam, caecilians' terrestrial habitats are flooded, making them uninhabitable. It is not currently known what the exact impact these dams have, but local population reduction is likely, if not more extreme consequences (Mott et al. 2011).

Possible reasons for amphibian decline

General habitat alteration and loss
Dams changing river flow and/or covering habitat

Comments
A phylogenetic analysis was conducted by Maciel et al. (2019) with relationships inferred based on Maximum Likelihood of ribosomal genes 12S and 16S. The results found that the Siphonops genus, which L. brasiliensis was previously assigned to, was not monophyletic. Instead, L. brasiliensis is placed in a clade with L. insulanus, nestled in a larder clade containing L. fredi (Maciel et al. 2019).

References

Maciel, A.O., de Castro, T.M., Sturaro, M.J., Costa Silva, I.E., Ferreira, J.G., dos Santos, R., Risse-Quaioto, B., Barboza, B.A., Oliveira, J.C.F., Sampaio, I., and Schneider, H. (2019). Phylogenetic systematics of the Neotropical caecilian amphibian Luetkenotyphlus (Gymnophiona: Siphonopidae) including the description of a new species from the vulnerable Brazilian Atlantic Forest. Zoologischer Anzeiger, 281, 76-83. [link]

Mott, T., De Moura, M. R., Maciel, A. O., and Feio, R. N. (2011). Variação Morfológica e Distribuição Geográfica de Luetkenotyphlus brasiliensis (Gymnophiona: Siphonopidae). Phyllomedusa: Journal of Herpetology, 10(2), 153. [link]

Nussbaum, R. A. (1986). The taxonomic status of Lutkenotyphlus brasiliensis (Lütken), and Siphonops confusionis Taylor (Gymnophiona: Caeciliidae). Journal of Herpetology, 20(3), 441–444. [link]

Wilkinson, M., San Mauro, D., Sherratt, E., and Gower, D. J. (2011). A nine-family classification of Caecilians (amphibia: Gymnophiona). Zootaxa, 2874(1), 41–64. [link]

Species Account Citation: AmphibiaWeb 2025 Luetkenotyphlus brasiliensis: São Paulo Caecilian <https://amphibiaweb.org/species/1907> University of California, Berkeley, CA, USA. Accessed May 5, 2025.

Citation: AmphibiaWeb. 2025. <https://amphibiaweb.org> University of California, Berkeley, CA, USA. Accessed 5 May 2025.

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