The Strange and Frightening World of the Cecilian...

The Cecilian is a strange legless amphibian in the order ceacillae. It kind of looks like a snake at first glance but is ribbed along its length, is rather pallid-looking and has vestigial eyes which can only just tell light from dark. They are very ancient creatures and have a worldwide distribution in the tropics but seem to be nowhere common.


This Cecilian was found by Dave and Darrell along the trail up to the summit of Morro de Calzada near Rioja in Northern Peru this February. It stuck around long enough for me to take some nice video of this rarely observed amphibian.


You can just make out the vestigial eyes on this view. Note also the ribbed appearance of the main body.


This Cecilian was about 15 inches long and was rather sluggish and slow moving. It liked to burrow into the leaf litter, presumably looking for prey. It would be very easy to walk right on by one of these creatures and this is presumably why they are seldom seen. I had never seen one before and consider myself fortunate to have observed this one so well.