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
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