What is a Caecilian?
You may have heard of amphibians, right? Those wet-looking creatures that are the all-rounders of the aquatic and dry world. Well, in order to live in both land and water, they require oxygen to breathe. Unlike fish, amphibians use their lungs and skin to obtain oxygen. Overall, this is a well-known information about amphibians. But, do you know that amphibians have three orders? These three orders are anura, urodela, and gymnophiona. Anura itself is an order containing frogs and toads. Urodela has salamanders and the famous axolotl. Meanwhile gymnophiona is the rarest of all two.
Caecilian is a member of the gymnophiona order and often mistaken as snakes or earthworms. The word caecilian comes from a Latin word caecus, which means “blind” or “sightless”. This statement appears to be true, because caecilians most likely have poor eyesights. Their poor eyesight is caused by the bad placement of the eyes, you’re right, they are placed below the skin or rarely under the skull.
When it comes to talking about a caecilian, we can’t forget that it looks like a skinless snake, some might find it disgusting. As you may know earlier, caecilians are part of the gymnophiona order. They are able to grow for more than 1 meter of length. Caecilia thompsoni is known to be the largest caecilian and it exceeds for up to 152 centimeters. Fascinating, right? Not only able to have the height of a 12 year-old child, caecilians do have a strong skull as well. They can’t be accepted as a living creature if they don’t eat something, in this case caecilians feed on worms, insects, and small fish.
We are probably wondering about the caecilian’s whereabouts. The habitats of caecilians spread across the world, not exactly the whole world, but still. They can be found living inside the tropical jungles in South America, Africa, and some parts in Southeast Asia, including Indonesia and Philippines. We can say that the underground is their playground, that is why their appearance remains elusive.
The reproduction method of caecilians might sound unusual. Well, normally the females will lay their eggs in a small terrestrial spot and protect them in a ring-shaped form. As time goes on, these eggs experience an intensive care from their mother. Once the eggs are completely hatched, they will swim in various bodies of water, like ponds or rivers. But, the unusual method occurs when the baby caecilians eat their mother’s skin, right after they hatched. The babies are equipped with specialised teeth to get the skin off their mother’s body. This happens to some species of caecilians, Siphonops annulatus and Boulengerula taitana. Unfortunately, the purpose of this event still remains unknown.
Now that we all know some of the caecilian’s absurd facts. From having the looks of a skinless snake and to be known as the skin eaters since babies. However, they are rarely to be seen because of living in the undergrounds, this does not mean that caecilians are not magnificent animals. Nevertheless, they are perfect in their own way, living peacefully as a part of the amphibian class.
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