Nguyen's Caecilian

About the Nguyen's Caecilian

Ichthyophis nguyenorum is a species of caecilian in the family Ichthyophiidae. They were first found in Kon Plông District, Kon Tum Province, central Vietnam, in 2006, and formally described in 2012. The species is now also known from the Cat Tien National Park in Đồng Nai and Lâm Đồng provinces, southern Vietnam, and is presumed to occur more widely in suitable habitat in central and southern Vietnam as well as in eastern Cambodia.

The specific name I. nguyenorum honours two Vietnamese herpetologists, Nguyen Quang Truong and Nguyen Thien Tao, who are brothers. The common name Nguyen's caecilian (Ếch giun Nguyễn - literally "worm frog" in Vietnamese) has been coined for this species.

The type series consists of three adult females that measure 257–307 mm (10.1–12.1 in) in total length. The tail is short and blunt, only about 3 mm (0.1 in). The body is cylindrical and slightly depressed dorsoventrally. The eyes are slightly protruding. The tentacles are very close to the edge of the mouth. The head is slightly widened around the jaw angle and narrows anteriorly. The body has 312–318 annuli in total. The annular grooves are dorsally complete but narrowly... Wikipedia →