''Crotaphatrema lamottei'', the Mount Oku caecilian or Lamotte's caecilian, is a species of

caecilian Caecilians (; ) are a group of limbless, vermiform or serpentine amphibians. They mostly live hidden in the ground and in stream substrates, making them the least familiar order of amphibians. Caecilians are mostly distributed in the tropics of ...

in the family

Scolecomorphidae The Scolecomorphidae are the family of caecilians, also known as tropical caecilians, buried-eyed caecilians, or African caecilians. They are found in Cameroon in West Africa, and Malawi and Tanzania in East Africa. Caecilians are legless amphibi ...

. It is

endemic Endemism is the state of a species being found in a single defined geographic location, such as an island, state, nation, country or other defined zone; organisms that are indigenous to a place are not endemic to it if they are also found elsew ...

Mount Oku Mount Oku, or Kilum Mountain, is the largest volcano in the Oku Massif, in the Cameroon Volcanic Line, located in the Oku region of the Western High Plateau of Cameroon. It is the second highest mountain in mainland Central Africa. The stratovolc ...

Cameroon Cameroon (; french: Cameroun, ff, Kamerun), officially the Republic of Cameroon (french: République du Cameroun, links=no), is a country in west-central Africa. It is bordered by Nigeria to the west and north; Chad to the northeast; the C ...

. The specific name ''lamottei'' honours , French biologist. There is some doubt whether ''

Crotaphatrema tchabalmbaboensis ''Crotaphatrema tchabalmbaboensis'' is a species of caecilian in the family Scolecomorphidae, the tropical or African caecilians. It was discovered in 1997 on Mount Tchabal Mbabo in the Adamawa Plateau, western Cameroon, and described as a new sp ...

'' really is distinct from this species.

Description

Males measure and adult females in total length. The mid-body width varies between . There are 115–129 primary annuli that are incomplete ventrally. The eyes are not externally visible. The dorsum is tan-brown in preservative and sienna brown and pale lilac in life. The venter is cream. The lateral margins of the upper jaws and the area surrounding tentacular apertures are cream. The tip of the snout is tan-brown.

Habitat and conservation

''Crotaphatrema lamottei'' is found in secondary forest, forest edge, and farmland, but never further than away from forest. It occurs at about

above sea level Height above mean sea level is a measure of the vertical distance (height, elevation or altitude) of a location in reference to a historic mean sea level taken as a vertical datum. In geodesy, it is formalized as ''orthometric heights''. The comb ...

. It is assumed to be

oviparous Oviparous animals are animals that lay their eggs, with little or no other embryonic development within the mother. This is the reproductive method of most fish, amphibians, most reptiles, and all pterosaurs, dinosaurs (including birds), and ...

and not to depend on water bodies for reproduction. ''Crotaphatrema lamottei'' has a low population density and restricted distribution, although its exact range remains poorly mapped. Agriculture, grazing, fire, and forest fragmentation threaten natural habitats at Mount Oku, but it is not known how these changes affect this particular species. It is sometimes killed by local people, perhaps because of being confused with snakes. Some habitat at Mount Oku is protected.

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q608784 lamottei Endemic fauna of Cameroon Amphibians of Cameroon Amphibians described in 1981 Taxa named by Ronald Archie Nussbaum Taxonomy articles created by Polbot