Günther's caecilian (Caecilia guntheri) is a species of caecilian in the family Caeciliidae. It is found in Colombia and Ecuador. Its natural habitat is subtropical or tropical moist montane forests.
History and Taxonomy The name Caecilia guntheri was used in 1880 by Peters as a nomen nudum. It was described as a species in 1942 by the American herpetologist Emmett Reid Dunn based on a holotype specimen collected from Western Ecuador.
Morphology C. guntheri is dark purple in color with a light grey underbelly and a slightly truncated or shovel-shaped head. It was previously distinguished from sympatric caecilian species by the number of annular folds along its body, which correspond in number with the animal's vertebrae; C. guntheri has 108-132 primary folds and 7-28 secondary folds Recent descriptions of new species of South American caecilia with overlapping fold ranges have cast doubt on this method as a means of distinguishing C. guntheri from other species.
Habitat C. guntheri inhabits the slopes of the Andes Mountains in Ecuador and Colombia. It has also been identified in the Pinogana District of Panama.
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