Weird, noodle-shaped amphibians known as caecilians found in South Florida canal
Date:
July 29, 2021
Source:
Florida Museum of Natural History
Summary:
Caecilians have arrived in Miami. Florida Fish and Wildlife officers captured one of the obscure legless amphibians in the Tamiami Canal, the first example of an introduced caecilian in the U.S
Caecilians have arrived in Miami. Florida Fish and Wildlife biologists captured one of the obscure legless amphibians in the Tamiami Canal, the first example of an introduced caecilian in the U.S.
Florida Museum of Natural History scientists used DNA testing to identify the specimen as the Rio Cauca caecilian, Typhlonectes natans, a native of Colombia and Venezuela. While caecilians -- pronounced like "Sicilians" -- hunt and scavenge various kinds of small animals, museum experts say it's too early to predict their potential impact on the local ecosystem.
"Very little is known about these animals in the wild, but there's nothing particularly dangerous about them, and they don't appear to be serious predators," said Coleman Sheehy, Florida Museum's herpetology collection manager. "They'll probably eat small animals and get eaten by larger ones. This could be just another non-native species in the South Florida mix."
Sheehy first learned of the caecilian when FWC officers sent him a photograph in 2019, puzzled at the two-foot-long eel-like animal they had netted in shallow water during a routine survey of the Tamiami Canal, also known as the C-4 Canal. After the caecilian died in captivity, it was sent to the Florida Museum for further analysis. Since then, Sheehy has received several other specimens and reports of caecilians in the canal and will conduct fieldwork in the area to determine their numbers and range.
More:
https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2021/07/210729122207.htm
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