Animal profile

Kaup's Caecilian

Potamotyphlus kaupii

AmphibiaRivers and slow freshwater channelsLeast Concern

Field profile

Kaup's caecilian is an aquatic caecilian of South American river systems, slender and laterally compressed with a fin-like ridge along the rear of the body. Unlike the many soil-burrowing caecilians, it spends its life in water. It is rarely encountered and poorly known relative to terrestrial members of the group.

Published field notes

2023-05-09

Kaup's Caecilian

Not every caecilian burrows through soil

Caecilians are usually described as underground animals, and most are. A small number, including Kaup's caecilian of the Amazon and Orinoco, live instead in rivers, with laterally flattened bodies and a fin along the tail.

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