Kolkata: Indian scientists have discovered a rare subterranean amphibian species in the northern Western Ghats. Named Gegeneophis valmiki, the find marks the first discovery within its genus in over a decade and adds to knowledge of so-called “hidden amphibians”.
The species was first collected in 2017 by K P Dinesh, senior scientist at the Zoological Survey of India (ZSI), from the Valmiki Plateau in Maharashtra’s Satara district. It has been named after the nearby historic Maharshi Valmiki Mandir.
The discovery, published in the international journal Phyllomedusa, is the outcome of a collaborative study involving the ZSI, Savitribai Phule Pune University, Balasaheb Desai College and the Mhadei Research Center.
Caecilians are limbless, worm-like amphibians that live deep in soil and organic matter and do not produce vocal calls, making them difficult to detect.
“Identifying members of the genus Gegeneophis in the field is extremely challenging. Commonly called blind caecilians, their eyes are hidden beneath the bony skull, and their resemblance to earthworms means confirming a new species requires years of morphological and genetic analysis,” Dinesh said.
Of the world’s 8,983 amphibian species, only 231 are caecilians. India has documented 42 caecilian species out of 457 amphibians. The Western Ghats, a global biodiversity hotspot, hosts 26 endemic caecilian species, including 11 belonging to the Gegeneophis group. Beyond their rarity, caecilians play an important ecological role by aerating soil through burrowing, regulating soil invertebrate populations and serving as prey for birds, reptiles and small mammals.
ZSI director, Dhriti Banerjee underscored the urgency of such work, noting that 41 per cent of the world’s amphibians are threatened with extinction and warning against “silent extinctions”, where species vanish before being documented.