Ichthyophis is a genus of caecilians found in Southeast Asia, the southern Philippines, and the western Indo-Australian Archipelago.
Ichthyophis
Caecilians are a group of limbless, vermiform (worm-shaped) or serpentine (snake-shaped) amphibians with small or sometimes nonexistent eyes. They mostly live hidden in soil or in streambeds, and this cryptic lifestyle renders caecilians among the least familiar amphibians. Modern caecilians live in the tropics of South and Central America, Africa, and southern Asia. Caecilians feed on small subterranean creatures such as earthworms. The body is cylindrical and often darkly coloured, and the skull is bullet-shaped and strongly built. Caecilian heads have several unique adaptations, including fused cranial and jaw bones, a two-part system of jaw muscles, and a chemosensory tentacle in front of the eye. The skin is slimy and bears ringlike markings or grooves and may contain scales.
Caecilian
X-ray showing the skeleton of Typhlonectes (Typhlonectidae)
Head of Geotrypetes seraphini (Dermophiidae), showing reduced eyes, nostrils, and small tentacles below the nostrils
Caecilia pulchraserrana (Caeciliidae) showing the smooth skin typical of caecilians