Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Does anyone know how to pronounce caecilian?If you could give me the phonetic spelling i would be much obliged lol its annoyed me for a while.

thanks

As I understand it

sa-sill-ian

Ed

Ok good I don't have to fear pronouncing it wrong when speaking.I guess I did have it right.

Hi there:

While I do have a bad habit of pronouncing it "Sicilian," it actually should be pronounced "Seecilian." Either way is fine, I guess.

DAVE

While I have heard it pronounced all three ways, sa-sill-ian (sah-sill-ian) is the way I have heard it prounouced most frequently at IAD, and SSAR conferences.

Ed

By the way,
which species do you keep? I have worked with Afrocaecilia tatiana, Dermophis mexicana and Geotrypetes seraphinia and currently work with Typhlonectes natans and on occasion I work with the Schistometopum thomenses.

Ed

Hi there:

In the past I have kept several Typhlonectes compressicauda, Typhlonectes nayans, and Typhlonectes cunhai. I may have also kept some species belonging to this genus that have not yet been identified. Ones that I cannot even describe in words. Currently I am keeping a small group of Dermophis Occidentalis that I am attempting to breed. While I keep, breed and study many herptiles and design new vivariums, caecilians of any kind are my specialty.

DAVE

Where did you get the other species of Typhlonectes? All of the ones that have been imported into the USA and Europe over the last 15-20 years have been identified to be T. natans out of Colombia.
What characteristics did you use to tell the difference between natans and the compressicaudas?

I've been breeding natans for over 12 years now and still have some of my original adults. And have maintained most of the other species I listed for more than a decade.

Ed

Hi there:

You can tell by coloration and some head differences. It took me a few weeks of research to figure out exactly what species I had. Natans and Compressicauda were the most common, while the later took some searching. The publication "The Caecilians Of The World" brought me to my conclusions.

DAVE

Hi Dave,

What reference did you use to for your identification?

I suspect I have some bad news for you. The only way to differentiate between natans and comperssicauda is through the cloacal morphology by counting the radial lines on the cloaca (which means that the animal has to be either deceased or anesthetized). (This is via Mark Wilkinson). All of the Typhlonectes that have been imported are T. natans as per Mark Wilkerson (and personal communications with Marvalee Wake, and R. Wayne VanDevender). The differences as published in the commonly available books such as in Amphibians in Captivity", by Marc Staniszewski are erroneous. In addition I have had confirmed T. natans that ranged in colors from dark slate gray to greenish-yellowish-grey and showed variability in color over the last 11 years.

Ed

PS: the descriptions in Caecilians of the World for T. natans and compressicauda was updated by Wilkinson. I'll get the reference for you if you are interested.

Ed

Hi there:

I would be very interested in this reference. Caecilians are my specialty and I'd love more up-to-date information. Thank you!

DAVE

Hi Dave,
the reference for the method to determine T. natans from compressicauda is found in
Wilkinson, Mark; 1996; The Taxonomic Status of Typhlonectes venezuelense Furhmann (Amphibia: Gymnophiona: Typhlonectidae); Herpetological Journal 6: 30-31

Ed

Hi there:

Thank you. I own a number of these journals and many off prints and papers about this subject, some which I have not yet looked at. I'll see if I can locate the reference. Thank you again.

DAVE

Hi Dave,
Excluding Caecilians of the World, I have somewhere around 50 articles and monographs on caecilians at the moment.
Ed

Hi there:

Awesome! I have found much useful information on the internet on who is currently the "caecilian person." As for the identification, I did not know exactly what species I had at the time, but after death, I preserved the bodies to make my counts, measurements and so forth. I have kept many aquatic caecilians, and after living a few years, they would die of old age. This is when I would disect some, and preserve the bodies of others. Now that I am here, have you ever bred Dermophis? I am currently trying to.

DAVE

Hi Dave,
I know that there are Typlonectes that are still alive after 15 years that were collected as adults. So I would expect their life span to possibly be in the 20s. I have one at work that is close to 14 years of age and gave birth to a litter of ten babies the year before last.

I have not bred Dermophis as of yet but I have had females give birth about 8 months after we first aquired them. They are on a side of the building at work where the temperature may be too warm in the summer to sucessfully cycle them. You should have been at IAD #3 as I gave a talk on caecilians in captivity.

I have worked with Schistometopum thomenses that have bred and given birth although we lost the offspring after a couple of months.

Ed

Hi there:

Thank you very much for the information! I would love to hear about your experiences breeding Schistometopum. I wish more caecilians were availabe! My dream is to own an Ichthyophis. Most of the caecilians that I have kept came in accidentally. I would love to hear about any experiences that caecilian keepers have had at zoos, work or at home. "Learn about caecilians as if you were to die tomorrow."

DAVE

Hi Dave,
I haven't forgotten just haven't had much time to type here.

Ed