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Uraeotyphlus bombayensis (Taylor, 1960)
Ichthyophis bombayensis Taylor, 1960, Univ. Kansas Sci. Bull., 40: 67. Holotype: BMNH 1888.6.11.1, by original designation. Type locality: "Waghii Surrat, Bombay, India" (= Waghii, Surat Dangs, Gujarat, India).
Ichthyophis malabarensis Taylor, 1960, Univ. Kansas Sci. Bull., 40: 80. Holotype: BMNH 1894.3.15.3, by original designation. Type locality: "Maduvangard, Travancore, [state of Kerala,] India". Synonymy by Gower, Dharne, Bhatta, Giri, Vyas, Venu, Oommen, George, Schouche, and Wilkinson, 2007, J. Zool., London, 272: 269.
Ichthyophis peninsularis Taylor, 1960, Univ. Kansas Sci. Bull., 40: 61. Holotype: BMNH 1882.12.12.6, by original designation. Type locality: "Malabar, India". Biju, 2001, Occas. Publ. Indian Soc. Conserv. Biol., 1: 8, noted the imprecision of this type locality. Synonymy by Gower, Dharne, Bhatta, Giri, Vyas, Venu, Oommen, George, Schouche, and Wilkinson, 2007, J. Zool., London, 272: 269.
Ichthyophis subterrestris Taylor, 1960, Univ. Kansas Sci. Bull., 40: 65. Holotype: FMNH 73927, by original designation. Type locality: "Travancore-Cochin [state of Kerala], plains, India". Synonymy by Gower, Dharne, Bhatta, Giri, Vyas, Venu, Oommen, George, Schouche, and Wilkinson, 2007, J. Zool., London, 272: 269.
Uraeotyphlus bombayensis — Dubois, Ohler, and Pyron, 2021, Megataxa, 5: 272, 407.
Common Names
Bombay Caecilian (Frank and Ramus, 1995, Compl. Guide Scient. Common Names Amph. Rept. World: 25; Dinesh, Radhakrishnan, Gururaja, and Bhatta, 2009, Rec. Zool. Surv. India, Occas. Pap., 302: 129).
Maharashtra Caecilian (Das and Dutta, 1998, Hamadryad, 23: 67).
Travancore Caecilian (Ichthyophis malabarensis [no longer recognized]: Frank and Ramus, 1995, Compl. Guide Scient. Common Names Amph. Rept. World: 25).
Malabar Caecilian (Ichthyophis malabarensis [no longer recognized]: Das and Dutta, 1998, Hamadryad, 23: 67).
Peninsular Caecilian (Ichthyophis peninsularis [no longer recognized]: Frank and Ramus, 1995, Compl. Guide Scient. Common Names Amph. Rept. World: 25).
Kerala Caecilian (Ichthyophis peninsularis [no longer recognized]: Das and Dutta, 1998, Hamadryad, 23: 67).
Pale-bellied Caecilian (Ichthyophis peninsularis [no longer recognized]: Daniels, 2005, Amph. Peninsular India: 82).
Short-headed Caecilian (Ichthyophis peninsularis [no longer recognized]: Daniels, 2005, Amph. Peninsular India: 82).
Cochin Caecilian (Ichthyophis subterrestris [no longer recognized]: Frank and Ramus, 1995, Compl. Guide Scient. Common Names Amph. Rept. World: 25).
Semi-terrestrial Caecilian (Ichthyophis subterrestris [no longer recognized]: Das and Dutta, 1998, Hamadryad, 23: 67).
Lavender-colored Caecilian (Ichthyophis subterrestris [no longer recognized]: Daniels, 2005, Amph. Peninsular India: 84).
Wide Range Unicolour Caecilian (Dinesh, Radhakrishnan, Deepak, and Kulkarni, 2023, Fauna India Checklist, vers. 5.0 : 16).
Distribution
Western Ghats from Gujarat to Kerala and the Eastern Ghats in southern Andhra Pradesh, India.
Geographic Occurrence
Natural Resident: India
Endemic: India
Comment
See accounts by Dutta, 1997, Amph. India Sri Lanka: 25-26 (as Ichthyophis peninsularis and Ichthyophis subterrestris), Bhatta, 1998, J. Biosciences, Bangalore, 23: 73–85, Pillai and Ravichandran, 1999, Rec. Zool. Surv. India, Occas. Pap., 172: 26-27 (as Ichthyophis bombayensis), page 42-48 (as Ichthyophis malabarensis and Ichthyophis peninsularis), and page 52-56 (as Ichthyophis subterrestris); Chanda, 2002, Handb. Indian Amph.: 188, 191-192, 195 (as Ichthyophis bombayensis, Ichthyophis malabarensis, Ichthyophis peninsularis, and Ichthyophis subterrestris); Daniels, 2005, Amph. Peninsular India: 82-86 (as Ichthyophis peninsularis and Ichthyophis subterrestris). Gower, Kupfer, Oommen, Himstedt, Nussbaum, Loader, Presswell, Müller, Krishna, Boistel, and Wilkinson, 2002, Proc. R. Soc. London, Ser. B, Biol. Sci., 269: 1563-1569, suggested that this taxon (as Ichthyophis malabarensis) is the sister taxon of Uraeotyphlidae. Das and Dutta, 2007, Hamadryad, 31: 154–181, noted two larval descriptions in the literature (as Ichthyophis malabaricus, error for Ichthyophis malabarensis). Gower, Dharne, Bhatta, Giri, Vyas, Venu, Oommen, George, Schouche, and Wilkinson, 2007, J. Zool., London, 272: 266-275, reported on the phylogenetics and taxonomy of former Ichthyophis malabarensis, Ichthyophis peninsularis, and Ichthyophis subterrestris. Ganesh and Asokan, 2010, Hamadryad, 35: 46-63, noted specimens (as Ichthyophis peninsularis and Ichthyophis subterrestris) from the Eastern Ghats near Chennai, Andhra Pradesh, India. Das and Dutta, 2007, Hamadryad, 31: 154–181, noted three larval descriptions in the literature, as Ichthyophis monochrous and Ichthyophis peninsularis). Pyron and Wiens, 2011, Mol. Phylogenet. Evol., 61: 543-583 (see comment in Amphibia record) confirmed that Ichthyophis bombayensis is the sister taxon of Uraeotyphlus, suggesting that it warrants a new generic name. A brief characterization, photograph, and dot map for the southern Western Ghats provided by Subramanian, Dinesh, and Radhakrishnan, 2013, Atlas of Endemic Amph. W. Ghats: 179. Sreekumar and Dinesh, 2020, Rec. Zool. Surv. India, 120: 33–40, discussed the range in Maharashtra, India, in terms of agro-climatic zones. Dubois, Ohler, and Pyron, 2021, Megataxa, 5: 272, transferred this species to Ichthyophis to relieve the paraphyly of Uraeotyphlus. Ganesh and Guptha, 2021, J. Anim. Diversity, 3(3): 22, reported Ichthyophis cf. bombayensis from Tada Fall, Ubbalamadugu Hills, Eastern Ghats, Andhra Pradesh, southern India.
External links:
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- For access to general information see Wikipedia
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- To search the NIH genetic sequence database, see GenBank
- For additional information see AmphibiaWeb report
- For information on conservation status and distribution see the IUCN Redlist
- For information on distribution, habitat, and conservation see the Map of Life
- For related information on conservation and images as well as observations see iNaturalist