Bombay caecilian

The Bombay caecilian (Ichthyophis bombayensis) is an amphibian found in India.^[1] This rather large species is found in the northern Western Ghats. The eyes are distinct and surrounded by a light ring. The tentacle is placed closer to the lip than the eye. A dark brown or greyish-brown species, it has no lateral stripes.^[2]

Bombay caecilian
Scientific classification
Domain:	Eukaryota
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Chordata
Class:	Amphibia
Order:	Gymnophiona
Clade:	Apoda
Family:	Ichthyophiidae
Genus:	Ichthyophis
Species:	I. bombayensis
Binomial name
Ichthyophis bombayensis Taylor, 1960
Synonyms[1]
Ichthyophis malabarensis Taylor, 1960 Ichthyophis peninsularis Taylor, 1960 Ichthyophis subterrestris Taylor, 1960

The three names below are presently considered to be junior synonyms of I. bombayensis,^[1] as it was recently shown that all the unstriped, long-tailed Ichthyophis from the Western Ghats showed little genetic variation.^[3]

• I. malabarensis – southern Western Ghats, known with certainty only from the type locality
• I. peninsularis – known only from the type specimen, exact locality not known
• I. subterrestris – known only from the type specimen, from Western Ghats south of Palghat Gap (Cochin and Travancore areas)

References

1. Frost, Darrel R. (2017). "Ichthyophis bombayensis Taylor, 1960". Amphibian Species of the World: an Online Reference. Version 6.0. American Museum of Natural History. Retrieved 10 September 2017.
2. Bhatta, Gopalakrishna (March 1998). "A field guide to the caecilians of the Western Ghats, India". Journal of Biosciences. 23: 73–85. doi:10.1007/BF02728526. S2CID 29374045.
3. Gower, D. J.; M. Dharne; G. Bhatta; V. Giri; R. Vyas; V. Govindappa; O. V. Oommen; J. George; Y. Shouche; M. Wilkinson (21 March 2007). "Remarkable genetic homogeneity in unstriped, long-tailed Ichthyophis along 1500 km of the Western Ghats, India". Journal of Zoology. 272 (3): 266–275. doi:10.1111/j.1469-7998.2006.00266.x.