Caeciliidae
Caecilidae
Caeciliidae includes a group of caecilians that are slender , gray and with very limited vision . There are 10 species in Peru ; 3 in the Madre de Dios department and 2 in the Manu area of which we include 2 species in this guide . Their bodies are bluish gray with no markings . The only different colored areas can be the nostrils , the cloaca or the skin between the body rings . The eye is almost vestigial and is under the skin or under the bone . Species identification within this group can be difficult and the observer needs to pay attention to length and width of the body , eye , shape of the snout and number of primary annuli ( the rings around the body ).
Caeciliidae species are highly fossorial , rarely coming out of the ground and tends to happen after heavy rains . Therefore , very little is known about their ecology and distribution . They have a variety of reproduction modes - being ovoviviparous , viviparous and direct development the most common ones . They usually feed on earthworms .
Oscaecilia bassleri burrowing inthe leaf litter / Oscaecilia bassleri escondiéndose en la hojarasca