Typhlonectes natans

Typhlonectes natans
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Amphibia
Order: Gymnophiona
Clade: Apoda
Family: Typhlonectidae
Genus: Typhlonectes
Species:
T. natans
Binomial name
Typhlonectes natans
(Fischer, 1880)
Typhlonectes natans native distribution map
Synonyms

Chthonerpeton haydee Roze, 1963

Typhlonectes natans, also incorrectly called the rubber eel, is a species of caecilian in the family Typhlonectidae found in Colombia, Venezuela, and possibly Trinidad and Tobago. Its natural habitats are dry savanna, subtropical or tropical dry shrubland, subtropical or tropical moist shrubland, subtropical or tropical seasonally wet or flooded lowland grassland, and rivers. T. natans is commonly kept as an aquarium pet, and is sometimes sold as a "fish" in aquarium stores.

A specimen of T. natans was found in October 2019 in Miami-Dade County, Florida, making it the first caecilian to be collected in North America.[2]

They grow to 45 to 55 centimetres (18 to 22 in) in length. They are dark grey to black in color. While T. natans can and occasionally does breathe air at the surface, most of its respiration takes place through its skin.

The species is ovoviviparous, giving birth to young in water. The gestation period lasts about 220 days. Three to seven live, fully developed young are born, which after only one year reach almost half the size of an adult (25 centimetres (10 in)).

  • Preserved Typhlonectes natans specimen
    Typhlonectes natans, Rio Cauca caecilian, Zoology Museum, Cambridge
  • The front of a Typhlonectes natans sitting on rocks
    Captive T. natans

References

  1. ^ IUCN SSC Amphibian Specialist Group (2020). "Typhlonectes natans". IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. 2020: e.T59601A85909110. doi:10.2305/IUCN.UK.2020-3.RLTS.T59601A85909110.en. Retrieved 15 November 2021.
  2. ^ Sheehy, Coleman; Blackburn, David; Kouete, Marcel; Gestring, Kelly; Laurie, Kristin; Prechtel, Austin; Suarez, Eric; Talley, Brooke (2021-07-15). "First record of a caecilian (order Gymnophiona, Typhlonectes natans) in Florida and in the United States". Reptiles & Amphibians. 28 (2): 355–357. doi:10.17161/randa.v28i2.15629. ISSN 2332-4961.