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Weird, noodle-shaped amphibians (pronounced “Sicilians”) have been found in the Tamiami Canal, the first discovery of its kind seen in the United States, according to a new report from the Florida Museum of Natural History in Gainesville. whose name comes from the Latin word “caecus,” meaning “blind,” due to their small or nonexistent eyes. Caecilians have sensory “tentacles” located on their head that may help them find food. The aquatic, limbless, worm-like animals belong to an ancient order of amphibians that has been around since even before the dinosaurs. The species that was found in Miami is a Rio Cauca...

A caecilian. (Noah Mueller) The strange-looking caecilians are limbless, worm-like amphibians that have been around for hundreds of millions of years, but they've never been found in the wild in the US – until now. It's now been confirmed that a creature caught in 2019 in the C-4 (or Tamiami) Canal in Florida is a Rio Cauca caecilian, Typhlonectes natans. The species is native to Colombia and Venezuela, and can grow more than half a meter (20 inches) in length. The captured amphibian recently died and was passed on to experts at the University of Florida, where an examination and...

An obscure, legless amphibian, colloquially referred to by some as a 'penis snake,' is the latest invasive species to make its way to South Florida. Formally known as a caecilian, these creatures are native to Colombia and Venezuela, but several have been pulled from the Tamiami Canal near the Miami International Airport. Caecilians can range in size from a few inches to five feet long and have extremely poor eyesight - their name translates to 'blind ones' in Latin. This could be just another non-native species in the South Florida mix.'