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Project Noah Nature School
Giant earthworm
Tropical Forest
Picture was taken near the WildSumaco Biological Station.
Hello Rosa. Just to let you know I removed "N/A" from the scientific name field because having anything there is read by the program to mean that the spotting has been identified. In addition, it's really meant only for the genus-species binomial name. Oftentimes when this is not known users may know the family name (in correct taxonomic format) and fill this in. While we have let this go by because it is a taxon, it is not strictly a scientific name. Any other use should not be made of this "dedicated" field. Strictly speaking, if the genus and species, or genus ("Genus sp.") is not known the scientific name field should just be left blank. We never know if someday someone might come along and be able to identify it to species. :-)
Most likely this is not Pontoscolex corethrurus. There is still much to learn about these giant earthworms and their phylogeny. I don't think I will ever have an ID for this creature, but we know he exists. :) I love David Attenborough. Thank you so much for the information Bayucca.
For me definitely an earthworm. They are quite common in the neotropical rainforests. I did not found any reasonable ID, only one for Pontoscolex corethrurus:
http://www.projectnoah.org/spottings/897...
But is this ID correct??
Some more:
http://www.gettyimages.ch/detail/photo/g...
http://www.ecuador.com/videos/giant+eart...
http://jthompson2rhsenglitcomp2.blogspot...
http://www.paranexus.org/index.php?actio...
http://izismile.com/2009/05/07/ecuador_w...
Hey everyone. I'm sorry to disappoint you all, but this is (100% sure) a giant earthworm not a Caecilian. We were looking for Caecilians in Ecuador, but unfortunately we could not find any. Fun fact: Caecilians do eat earthworms and this worm could have been a tasty treat. Caecilians are extremely awesome amphibians, but this is not one of them. Machi is correct that it is not a Caecilian. Up close there was no face. My identification is supported by a herpetologist who was with me in Ecuador.
This is probably not a Caecilian because it has no facial features whatsoever. Also, I think the second picture is showing a prostomium.
Gymnophiona, also called Apoda, one of the three major extant orders of the class Amphibia. Its members are known as caecilians, a name derived from the Latin word caecus, meaning “sightless” or “blind.” The majority of this group of limbless, wormlike amphibians live underground in humid tropical regions throughout the world. Because of their relatively hidden existence, caecilians are unfamiliar to the layperson and are not usually considered in discussions about amphibians. They are nevertheless a fascinating group of highly specialized amphibians about which there is still much to be learned.
Yes Scott, I was just simply saying the term caecilian applies to an entire order, which is Gymnophiona as you stated, not a genus as is indicated in the suggestion. And I just listed the families that would be found in the area she found this one at. And I won't +1 your suggestion since "Caecilian sp." is not a scientific name and therefore not correct.
Ashley, I am simply letting Rosa know that this isn't an earthworm but an amphibian. If you agree with this perhaps you would like to vote up the suggestion.
Caecilians are an Order, and saying "Caecilian sp" would indicate it is a genus, which is not correct. Only a genus will have "sp" after it, not an order or family. There are 3 families that are found in Central America; Siphonopidae, Dermophiidae, and Caecilidae.
Yeah the conditions are just right for them in Ecuador to get that big. This one was around 3.5 ft long I think.
Spotted on May 13, 2012
Submitted on Apr 29, 2014
+2
