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Gegeneophis chandgadi, a new species of legless, worm-like amphibian, was formally described on 2 September 2026 in the Records of the Zoological Survey of India.
It was collected during field surveys in August 2025 at Buzawade village in the Chandgad region of Maharashtra, in the northern Western Ghats.
The species name honours Chandgadi, the local dialect of Marathi spoken in the area.
It is distinguished by a slender, flesh-coloured body and by secondary annuli — the rings around the trunk — confined to the rear half of the body.
The description came from a team drawn from the Zoological Survey of India, Yashwantrao Chavan Mahavidyalaya Halkarni, Savitribai Phule Pune University and the Mhadei Research Centre, using DNA barcoding alongside morphology.
The third and least known order of amphibians, alongside frogs and toads (Anura) and salamanders and newts (Caudata). Caecilians have no limbs, tiny or skin-covered eyes, and spend nearly all their lives burrowing in moist soil, which is why new species keep turning up.
Simple Analogy: An amphibian that lives like an earthworm.
India's premier faunal survey organisation, established in 1916, which documents and describes the country's animal diversity and publishes the Records of the Zoological Survey of India
Chandgad lies at the southern end of Maharashtra where the state meets Goa and Karnataka, in the northern stretch of the Western Ghats. The Ghats run about 1,600 km along the western edge of the peninsula and are one of the world's biodiversity hotspots and a UNESCO World Heritage Site.
GS Paper III > Environment and Biodiversity > Species, hotspots and conservation
General Awareness > Environment and current affairs
The Western Ghats are a recognized biodiversity hotspot. Which of the following is currently considered the most significant threat to its endemic species, beyond general habitat loss?
Answer: Infrastructure development projects (e.g., roads, dams, mining).
In which of the following regions of India are you most likely to come across the 'Great Indian Hornbill' in its natural habitat?
Answer: Western Ghats
From the ecological point of view, which one of the following assumes importance in being a good link between the Eastern Ghats and the Western Ghats?
Answer: Sathyamangalam Tiger Reserve
The "Western Ghats" are also known as:
Answer: Sahyadris
Hubbardia heptaneuron, which has become endangered, is a species of which of the following?
Answer: Grass
A limbless, largely burrowing amphibian of the order Gymnophiona, the third amphibian order after Anura and Caudata.
The ring-like grooves encircling a caecilian's body; the arrangement of primary and secondary annuli is a key character in telling species apart.
Identifying a species by comparing a short standardised stretch of its genetic code against reference sequences.