Herpetology Notes, volume 16: 95-97 (2023) (published online on 12 February 2023)

Rediscovery of the Billiton Caecilian, Ichthyophis

billitonensis Taylor, 1965, on Belitung Island, Indonesia,
after more than five decades

Wanda Kusumah1, Veryl Hasan2,*, and Dian Samitra3

Caecilians are an order of eel-like amphibians that

comprises 219 extant species (Frost, 2023). They are
restricted in distribution to the tropics and sub-tropics, and
most are fossorial in moist and humus-rich soil as adults
(Nussbaum and Wilkinson, 1989; Venu et al., 2021).
Because of their hidden lifestyle they are unfamiliar to
most herpetologists, and their biology is perhaps the least
known among all amphibians and reptiles. Most caecilian
species are under threat due to deforestation, pollution,
and climate change (Borzée et al., 2017). Due to their
fossorial habits, caecilians are challenging to find, and
this has limited out ability to obtain more comprehensive
knowledge about their natural history and abundance
(Wang et al., 2015). In general, they are threatened by a
long list of factors (Gower and Wilkinson, 2005). Many
caecilian species may become extinct before they can be
described, and with them disappears any possibility to
study their behaviour and ecology.
Members of the genus Ichthyophis are oviparous and
present in a broad range of terrestrial microhabitats,
ranging from primary forests to plantations (IUCN SSC
Amphibian Specialist Group, 2018). One of least known
species is I. billitonensis, which is so far known only
from Belitung Island in the northern part of the Java Sea
between Sumatra, Borneo, and Java (Taylor, 1965). After
more than five decades, we here report the rediscovery of
I. billitonensis on Gunung Tajam, the highest mountain
on Tanjung Pandan District, Belitung Island, Indonesia.
A single individual of I. billitonensis (total length
110 mm; Fig. 1) was collected and photographed on 8

1
Weka TJQ Aquatic, Diponegoro Dalam Street, Belitung, Bangka
Belitung 33411, Indonesia.
2
Universitas Airlangga, Fisheries and Marine Faculty,
Aquaculture Department, Dr. Ir. H. Soekarno Street, Surabaya,
East Java 60115, Indonesia.
3
Biology Education, Science and Technology Faculty, Silampari Figure 1. An individual of Ichthyophis billitonensis (GBI
PGRI University, Mayor Toha Street, Lubuklinggau, South
0068) discovered on Gunung Tajam on Belitung Island,
Sumatra 31628, Indonesia.
Indonesia. (A) The animal photographed in situ. (B) Lateral
*
Corresponding author. E-mail: veryl.hasan@fpk.unair.ac.id
view to show body shape. (C) Closer view of the head.
© 2023 by Herpetology Notes. Open Access by CC BY-NC-ND 4.0. Photos by W. Kusumah.
96 Wanda Kusumah et al.

June 2022 on Gunung Tajam, Tanjung Pandan District,
Belitung Island, Indonesia (2.7758°S, 107.8553°E,
elevation 420 m; Fig. 2). The animal was collected using
a scoop net on leaf litter near the base of the mountain.
The soil of the entire area was covered with moist leaf
litter on a rocky substrate. The specimen was preserved
in 10% formalin solution and deposited in the collection
of the Zoology Laboratory, Generasi Biologi Indonesia
Foundation, Kabupaten Gresik, East Java, Indonesia
(GBI 0068). Morphological identification follows the
diagnostic characters presented by Taylor (1965) and
the island is the type locality of I. billitonensis.
The specimen displays the morphological characters
of I. billitonensis: head bluntly conical; eye distinct;
nostrils directed upward; tongue slightly oval, its
anterior part covering the splenials, which are slightly
exposed above the gums; first collar distinct below,
fused to second collar above; first and second transverse
grooves distinct below, the second tending to form a
slight fold which is curved. Colouration of the fresh
specimen was generally brown without a lateral stripe;
body slightly olive-brown above, brown laterally, light
brown ventrally; vent, nostril, and tentacle with one
light spot at each; a lighter ring surrounds eye.
Since the time of its original description in 1965, there
have been no further reports of the single-island endemic
I. billitonensis (IUCN SSC Amphibian Specialist Group,
2018). The species may be immediately threatened

Figure 2. Habitat at the type locality of Ichthyophis billitonensis, Gunung Tajam on Belitung Island, Indonesia. (A) The moist
lowland forest is shown surrounding the base of the mountain. (B) Microhabitat of I. billitonensis showing the specimen before
its collection (centre). Photos by W. Kusumah.
Rediscovery of Ichthyophis billitonensis on Belitung Island, Indonesia
by habitat loss from open pit tin mining in the area.
Clearly, its rediscovery is important for an improved
understanding of diversity on Belitung, but also in terms
of conservation and species management (Iskandar et
al., 2000; Harapan et al., 2020).
Similar to other regions of Southeast Asia, forests in
Indonesia have many plantations, and I. billitonensis may
become displacement into settlements since caecilians
are known to inhabit modified environments (e.g.,
Wang et al., 2015). Plantation establishment represents
a potential threat for caecilian species like I. billitonensis
and may prevent their life cycle. In Indonesia, caecilians
are also threatened by the trade in amphibians, yet the
conservation of most caecilian species is rarely discussed:
about 92% of Southeast Asian caecilian species are in the
Data Deficient IUCN category (Gower and Wilkinson,
2005). Additional data collection is needed to assess the
distribution of I. billitonensis on its native island and to
evaluate the remaining habitat.
Acknowledgments. We thank the members of the Generasi
Biologi Indonesia Foundation for being our guides. This research
was funded by Universitas Airlangga.
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Accepted by Hinrich Kaiser