Taxonomic notes: This is a poorly circumscribed species in need of taxonomic review (M. Wilkinson pers. comm.).

This species ranges only from the eastern lowlands of southeastern Darien Province, Panama, through the Pacific lowlands of Colombia to extreme northwestern Ecuador. It has also been reported from Gorgona Island, Colombia (Dunn, 1942; Urbina-C. and Londoño-M., 2003). It is known to occur up to 923m asl.

It is a subterranean species, also living in the moist leaf-litter, in humid tropical lowland and foothill forests. It is not known whether or not it can survive in degraded, open areas. There is no information on its breeding habitats.

It is a common species in Colombia, but is rare in Ecuador. There is no information from Panama, where it is known only from a single locality.

Section empty

Deforestation as a result of expanding agriculture is a potential threat, but there is not enough information to confirm this.

It occurs in several protected areas in Colombia, and is known from Parque Nacional Darien in Panama.

• 1.1 Site/area protection
• 2.1 Site/area management

Listed as Least Concern in view of its wide distribution, presumed large population, and because it is unlikely to be declining to qualify for listing in a more threatened category.

• Boulenger, G.A. 1902. Descriptions of new batrachians and reptiles from north-western Ecuador. Annals and Magazine of Natural History: 51-57.
• Dunn, E.R. 1942. The American Caecilians. Bulletin of Museum of Comparative Zoology, Harvard University: 439-540.
• Fletcher-Lazo, G.E. 2002. Taxonomía, distribución e historia natural de los ápodos (Amphibia: Gymnophiona) del Occidente Ecuatoriano. Unpublished thesis. Pontificia Universidad Católica del Ecuador. Tesis de Licenciatura, Quito, Ecuador.
• Gower, D.J. and Wilkinson, M. 2005. Conservation biology of caecilian amphibians. Conservation Biology 19(1): 45-55.
• Ibáñez, R., Solís, F., Jaramillo, C. and Rand, S. 2000. An overview of the herpetology of Panama. In: J.D. Johnson, R.G. Webb and O.A. Flores-Villela (eds), Mesoamerican Herpetology: Systematics, Zoogeography and Conservation, pp. 159-170. The University of Texas at El Paso, El Paso, Texas.
• Lynch, J.D. 1999. Una aproximación a las culebras ciegas de Colombia (Amphibia: Gymnophiona). Revista de la Academia Colombiana de Ciencias Exactas, Físicas y Naturales: 317-337.
• Savage, J.M. and Wake, M.H. 2001. Reevaluation of the status of taxa of Central American caecilians (Amphibia: Gymnophiona), with comments on their origin and evolution. Copeia: 52-64.
• Urbina-C., J.N. and Londoño-M., M.C. 2003. Distribución de la comunidad de herpetofauna asociada a cuatro áreas con diferente grado de perturbación en la Isla Gorgona, Pacifico colombiano. Revista de la Academia Colombiana de Ciencias Exactas Fisicas y Naturales: 105-113.
• Young, B., Sedaghatkish, G., Roca, E. and Fuenmayor, Q. 1999. El Estatus de la Conservación de la Herpetofauna de Panamá: Resumen del Primer Taller Internacional sobre la Herpetofauna de Panamá. The Nature Conservancy, Arlington, Virginia.