The Bombay caecilian (Ichthyophis bombayensis) is an amphibian found in India.[1] 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.[2]

Bombay caecilian
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Amphibia
Order: Gymnophiona
Clade: Apoda
Family: Ichthyophiidae
Genus: Ichthyophis
Species:
I. bombayensis
Binomial name
Ichthyophis bombayensis
Taylor, 1960
Synonyms[1]
  • Ichthyophis malabarensis Taylor, 1960
  • Ichthyophis peninsularis Taylor, 1960
  • Ichthyophis subterrestris Taylor, 1960

The three names below are presently considered to be junior synonyms of I. bombayensis,[1] as it was recently shown that all the unstriped, long-tailed Ichthyophis from the Western Ghats showed little genetic variation.[3]

  • I. malabarensis – southern Western Ghats, known with certainty only from the type locality
  • I. peninsularis – known only from the type specimen, exact locality not known
  • I. subterrestris – known only from the type specimen, from Western Ghats south of Palghat Gap (Cochin and Travancore areas)

References

edit
  1. ^ a b c Frost, Darrel R. (2017). "Ichthyophis bombayensis Taylor, 1960". Amphibian Species of the World: an Online Reference. Version 6.0. American Museum of Natural History. Retrieved 10 September 2017.
  2. ^ Bhatta, Gopalakrishna (March 1998). "A field guide to the caecilians of the Western Ghats, India". Journal of Biosciences. 23: 73–85. doi:10.1007/BF02728526. S2CID 29374045.
  3. ^ Gower, D. J.; M. Dharne; G. Bhatta; V. Giri; R. Vyas; V. Govindappa; O. V. Oommen; J. George; Y. Shouche; M. Wilkinson (21 March 2007). "Remarkable genetic homogeneity in unstriped, long-tailed Ichthyophis along 1500 km of the Western Ghats, India". Journal of Zoology. 272 (3): 266–275. doi:10.1111/j.1469-7998.2006.00266.x.