Amphibians · Gymnophiona · Scolecomorphidae

Banded Caecilian

Scolecomorphus vittatus

Least Concern

The species is abundant and widely distributed; it faces no significant short-term risk. See full glossary

The banded caecilian is a legless amphibian of the montane forests of Tanzania with an anatomy unique among vertebrates: its eyes are not in the head but attached to the base of the sensory tentacles, so that they go in and out with them. It is live-bearing and its young are born fully formed.

Size

20 cm – 45 cm

Lifespan

10 years

Diet

Carnivore

Feeds mainly on other animals.

Activity

Nocturnal

Active mainly at night.

Social structure

Solitary

Lives and hunts alone, joining others only to breed.

Sighting difficulty

Easy

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Fun facts

Its eyes are mounted on its tentacles: instead of being fixed in the skull, they are attached to the base of the chemosensory tentacles and extend and retract with them, an arrangement found in no other vertebrate.
It lives in the forests of Tanzania's Eastern Arc, a chain of isolated mountains that concentrate a proportion of endemics comparable to that of oceanic islands.
It is live-bearing: the embryos develop inside the mother and are born as fully formed caecilians, with no aquatic larval stage.

Life cycle & biology

Skeleton type: Vertebrate - internal bony skeleton (amphibian)
Habitat & environment: Damp soils of montane forest in Tanzania's Eastern Arc
Sexual maturity: 3 years
Gestation / incubation: Internal gestation; the young are born fully formed
Litter / clutch size: 5 live young

Sources consulted: https://es.wikipedia.org/wiki/Scolecomorphus_vittatus