Ichthyophiidae

Ichthyophiidae is the family of Asiatic tailed caecilians or fish caecilians. They are found in south-east Asia.

They are primitive caecilians. They do not have some of the features found in the other families. For example, the mouth is not back underneath the head, they have tails, and have many scales on their body. They have two sets of muscles for closing the jaw.  This is a feature unique to caecilians, but absent in the related family Rhinatrematidae.

They lay their eggs in small holes in moist soil.  The eggs hatch into larvae.  They live in streams or underground seepages.  They the change into adults. There is some evidence that the female may protect the eggs until they hatch.

Taxonomy

Family Ichthyophiidae
 Genus Caudacaecilia
Caudacaecilia asplenia - Broad-striped Caecilian
Caudacaecilia larutensis - Larut Hills Caecilian
Caudacaecilia nigroflava - Kuala Lumpur Caecilian
Caudacaecilia paucidentula - Kapahiang Caecilian
Caudacaecilia weberi - Malatgan River Caecilian
 Genus Ichthyophis
Ichthyophis acuminatus - Elongate-headed Caecilian
Ichthyophis alfredii
Ichthyophis atricollaris - Long Bloee Caecilian
Ichthyophis bannanicus - Banna Caecilian
Ichthyophis beddomei - Yellow-striped Caecilian
Ichthyophis bernisi - Indonesian Caecilian
Ichthyophis biangularis - Angular Caecilian
Ichthyophis billitonensis - Billiton Island Caecilian
Ichthyophis daribokensis 
Ichthyophis bombayensis - Bombay Caecilian
Ichthyophis davidi
Ichthyophis dulitensis - Mount Dulit Caecilian
Ichthyophis elongatus - Elongated Caecilian
Ichthyophis garoensis
Ichthyophis glandulosus - Basilan Island Caecilian
Ichthyophis glutinosus - Ceylon Caecilian
Ichthyophis humphreyi - Humphrey's Caecilian
Ichthyophis husaini - Husain's Caecilian
Ichthyophis hypocyaneus - Bantam Caecilian
Ichthyophis javanicus - Javan Caecilian
Ichthyophis khumhzi
Ichthyophis kodaguensis - Kodagu Striped Caecilian
Ichthyophis kohtaoensis - Koa Tao Island Caecilian
Ichthyophis laosensis - Upper Laos Caecilian
Ichthyophis longicephalus - Long-headed Caecilian
Ichthyophis malabarensis - Malabar Caecilian
Ichthyophis mindanaoensis - Mindanao Island Caecilian
Ichthyophis monochrous - Western Borneo Caecilian
Ichthyophis moustakius
Ichthyophis orthoplicatus - Pattipola Caecilian
Ichthyophis paucisulcus - Siantar Caecilian
Ichthyophis peninsularis
Ichthyophis pseudangularis - Taylor's Caecilian
Ichthyophis sendenyu
Ichthyophis sikkimensis - Sikkimese Caecilian
Ichthyophis singaporensis - Singapore Caecilian
Ichthyophis subterrestris
Ichthyophis sumatranus - Sumatran Caecilian
Ichthyophis supachaii - Supachai's Caecilian
Ichthyophis tricolor - Three-coloured Caecilian
Ichthyophis youngorum - Doi Suthep Caecilian
 Genus Uraeotyphlus
Uraeotyphlus gansi
Uraeotyphlus interruptus - Kerala Caecilian 
Uraeotyphlus malabaricus - Malabar Caecilian 
Uraeotyphlus menoni - Menon's Caecilian 
Uraeotyphlus narayani - Narayan's Caecilian 
Uraeotyphlus oommeni - Bonnacord Caecilian 
Uraeotyphlus oxyurus - Red Caecilian 

References

Nussbaum, Ronald A. and Mark Wilkinson (1989). "On the Classification and Phylogeny of Caecilians." Herpetological Monographs, (3), 1-42

Frost, Darrel R. 2004. Amphibian Species of the World: an Online Reference. Version 3.0 (22 August 2004). Electronic Database accessible at http://research.amnh.org/herpetology/amphibia/index.php. American Museum of Natural History, New York, USA
AmphibiaWeb: Information on amphibian biology and conservation. [web application]. 2004. Berkeley, California: AmphibiaWeb. Available: http://amphibiaweb.org/. Retrieved 26 August 2004

Category:Caecilians