The Beddome’s Caecilian, Ichthyophis beddomei is a worm-like amphibian that can swim. Although the adults of the species do not appear to be comfortable with swimming, they can move through the water by making to and fro wave-like motions with their bodies. Females lay their eggs near the water and provide parental care by keeping the eggs moist, rotating them, and even moving the clutch of eggs when threatened. When the eggs are close to hatching, the female leaves the clutch and larvae hatch out with gills and enter the water. The larvae leave the water for burrows in soil after they metamorphose and absorb their gills. Beddome’s Caecilian, with its bright yellow colored sides and distinct eyes, can be commonly found the Western Ghats region of southern India, in the states of Kerala, Tamil Nadu, Maharashtra, and Karnataka. It is listed as ‘Least Concern’ on the IUCN Redlist of Threatened SpeciesTM.
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There are no current threats and this species can tolerate some habitat disturbance, habitat pollution from agriculture is a concern. However, while Beddome’s Caecilian is currently known as one of the most common caecilian in the Western Ghats, there are few documented occurrences of this species in public record (such as bio-collections) or through citizen science efforts.
Beddome’s Caecilian can be found in Wayanad Wildlife Sanctuary and Parambikulam Wildlife Sanctuary in Kerala, and may possibly be found in Idukki Wildlife Sanctuary in Kerala and Indira Gandhi National Park in Tamil Nadu.
Submit your observations of this species to iNaturalist and they will appear on this map. Learn more about this species on Amphibiaweb.
More Amazing Amphibians here.
Produced in partnership with:
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How to become an Amazing Amphibians partner:
Outlined below are the roles and responsibilities for the 4 different levels of involvement for potential partners. If your organization would like to be a part of the Amazing Amphibians program in either of these capacities please email amazing@amphibians.org.
Senior Partner – These partners will help with multiple aspects of the program, help facilitate the completion of several species profiles, publicize each Amazing Amphibian and will likely have a landing page for the program on their website. This level of partner will be leading in using their communication channels to gather additional information for the program such as images and data points for iNaturalist.
Strategic Partner – These partners will play an active role in creating species profiles, submitting at least three species profiles per year and actively use their social network to publicize each Amazing Amphibian. This level of partner will be active in using their communication channels to gather additional information for the program such as images and data points for iNaturalist.
Focal Partner – Partners tend to be active in a limited geographic area. This partner will submit at least one regional species profile per year and use their social network to publicize each Amazing Amphibian. This level of partner will be involved in using their communication channels to gather additional information at a regional level for the program such as images and data points for iNaturalist.
Affiliate – These partners are interested in promoting the program but might not be in a position to provide profiles. These partners will publicize each Amazing Amphibian through the social media outlets.
