On the absence of Ichthyophis sikkimensis Taylor, 1960 (Amphibia: Gymnophiona: Ichthyophiidae) in the Western Ghats of peninsular India

摘要

We examined two specimens of short-tailed, unstriped Ichthyophis Fitzinger, 1843 collected in 1949 from the Anamalai Hills of the Western Ghats of peninsular India. One of these specimens was identified previously as the peninsular Indian I. subterrestris Taylor, 1960, the other as I. sikkimensis Taylor, 1960, a species known otherwise only from Nepal and the Indian states of Sikkim and West Bengal, approximately 2,200 km to the northeast. We find that the two specimens in question are conspecific, that both have been misidentified and that the pair together probably belong to an undescribed species. Our conclusion that I. sikkimensis does not occur in peninsular India removes a major biogeographic anomaly.