Posted by Dannie on October 25, 2002 at 12:26:33:
In Reply to: purple VS blue caecilians (rubber eels) posted by Ken Blanchard on October 20, 2002 at 18:15:26:
:When I was a kid, I had three of the animals as pets. Two were of a dark, dull, bluish color and the other was maroon or purplish. I noticed in the pet store that sold these that the blue ones tended to be more robust in appearance while the purple ones were usually thinner and looked relatively sickly. Were these two different species? Was it sexual dimorphism within a single species? What was the meaning behind selling two distinct varieties?
They MAY be two different species...probably not though. If they are both in the water then they are probably the same species, or the pet store people may be stupid(very common) and they put terrestial caecilians in water. Sexual dimorphism...ha! Its nearly impossible to identify male and female caecilians. Some people claim they can identify male or female aquatic species (Rio Cauca caecilians, "rubber eels", probably the ones you're seeing) by their cloacas (privates). Don't come here to ask questions about caecilians, go to caecilian.org. Kingsnake.com said they were going to make a caecilian forum at the reptiles and amphibians part of their site, but its been taking them an awful long time...
Dan
