Marbled Caecilian

Relatively large (up to 300 mm in length), stocky rhinatrematid with a long tail (up to 22 mm long). The dorsal ground color is dark lavender with scattered yellowish blotches; the sides and ventral surfaces are yellow with scattered dark lavender spots.

This species is found on the Pacific slope of Ecuador. It inhabits pristine rainforest at middle elevations and also lives along streams in deforested areas.

Not much is known about their behavior. The diet in the wild consists of earthworms and soil arthropods. These caecilians can excavate their own burrows in moist soil in terraria. They discover earthworms and crickets by scent and lunge forward to grasp them in their jaws. Larger earthworms, capable of struggling when grasped, elicit a twisting response, in which the caecilian rapidly spins on its longitudinal axis. This often result in the earthworm being twisted in half. The portion in the caecilian's jaws is then swallowed.