THE CENTER FOR NORTH AMERICAN HERPETOLOGY

Amphibia    Gymnophiona    Typhlonectidae  

Rio Cauca Caecilian
Typhlonectes natans (Fischer in Peters, 1880)

Current SSAR Comments:
Newly listed species. Native to the Cauca River and Magdalena River drainage systems in western and northern Colombia and around the Maracaibo River Basin in northwestern Venezuela. It has been introduced via the pet trade in Miami, Miami-Dade County, Florida. A single specimen was found in 2019 in the extensive waterways of the Tamiami Canal (C–4) just south of the Miami International Airport (Sheehy et al., 2021, Reptiles & Amphibians 28: 355–357). Between 2019 and 2024, at least 110 specimens have been vouchered from five localities (dispersed over 10.5 km) in Miami-Dade County (Florida Museum of Natural History [FLMNH] 190000, 192195–6, 192311–40, 192401–48, 193493–507, 193948, 194665–8, 194670–8).

Range maps are based on curated specimens and provided gratis by CNAH.
(Created by Travis W. Taggart; Version: 2024.03.30.14.42.13)
Download GeoJSON polygon range file: - 0.07 MB

First instance(s) of published English names:
No historic English names have been assigned to this taxon yet.

Taxon Links:

  
Catalog of American Amphibians and Reptiles
  
Amphibian Species of the World
  
NatureServe
  
iNaturalist
  
GenBank
  
USGS - Nonindigenous Aquatic Species Database

Pertinent LIterature:
1880 Fischer, Johann Gustav Über die Eintheilung der Caecilien und insbesondere über die Gattungen Rhinatrema und Gymnopis. Pages 924–944 in Peters, W. C. H. Monatsberichte der Königlichen Preussische Akademie des Wissenschaften zu Berlin. Monatsberichte der Königlichen Preussische Akademie des Wissenschaften, Berlin, Germany. pp.
2021 Sheehy, Coleman M., III, David C. Blackburn, Marcel T. Kouete, Kelly B. Gestring, Krissy Laurie, Austin Prechtel, Eric Suarez, and Booke L. Talley. First record of a Caecilian (Order Gymnophiona, Family Typhlonectidae, Typhlonectes natans) in Florida and in the United States. Reptiles & Amphibians 28(2):355–357

THE CENTER FOR NORTH AMERICAN HERPETOLOGY — Accessed: Wednesday 15 January 2025 21:02 CT