Approximately 200 species of caecilians have been described.
Caecilians are legless amphibians that resemble worms or snakes, but they are more closely related to frogs and salamanders. Most live underground or in freshwater habitats, where their smooth, ringed bodies help them move through soil, leaf litter, and mud. Their small or sometimes hidden eyes explain the group’s name, which comes from a Latin word meaning “blind.”
The exact total changes as scientists discover new species and revise classifications. A widely cited classification recognized nearly 200 living species, while later counts listed about 219 species in 33 genera and 10 families. For a quiz asking “approximately,” 200 is therefore the standard rounded answer.
Caecilians are often mistaken for reptiles or worms. They are amphibians, and several species have unusual reproductive biology: some give birth to live young, while others produce larvae or feed their offspring specialized skin tissue. They occur mainly in tropical regions of Africa, Asia, and Central and South America.