Boulengerula uluguruensis Barbour and Loveridge, 1928
It is named for the type locality in the Uluguru Mountains of Tanzania.
This is a medium to small caecilian that is uniformly pink with a blue hue. The head can appear as a creamy yellow. The body can take on the colors of soil in the gut (from earthworm and termite prey) or body organs (dark liver). Oviductal eggs are easily seen in females. Primary annuli range from 128 to 144 (Harper et al., 2010).
This species has a superficial resemblance to B. chamgamwensis as they are both pink (Harper et al., 2010). Barbour and Loveridge (1928) report that this species can be distinguished from B. boulengeri by its fewer annuli, having 125 to 135 (129, n=45). The colour of B. uluguruensis is totally different in life from that of B. boulengeri, and in alcohol it lacks the dorsal pigmentation of that species.
Habit is slender, vermiform. Snout is obtusely pointed, projecting far beyond the lower jaw. Eye is indistinguishable. Tentacle is round, exsertile, surrounded by a circular groove placed about half-way along the head just above the middle of the upper jaw. Annuli number 147 in holotype (132 to 148 in paratype series); the folds are interrupted on the middle dorsal line in the centre of the body but not on nape and tail. Its general appearance is very worm-like (Barbour and Loveridge, 1928).
In life, the dorsum and venter are a rather transparent but livid fleshy pink color; posteriorly some white stippling is visible with the aid of a lens. In alcohol, this species is opaque and colourless; with a lens a dorsal band may be detected (Barbour and Loveridge, 1928).
Males range from 130 to 221 mm and females 133 to 195 mm in snout-vent length (Harper et al., 2010).
The holotype measures 272 mm in total length and is the largest specimen in the type series; the diameter at mid-body is 5 mm. The smallest paratype measures 130 mm, with a diameter of 3.5 mm. The average length of the whole series is 202 mm (Barbour and Loveridge, 1928).
Adults feed on subterranean macroinvertebrates, including earthworms and termites (Harper et al., 2010).
This species is known only from the Nguu, Nguru and Uluguru Mountains, in eastern Tanzania (Harper et al., 2010).
This species resides in the soil of montane and submontane forest (400 - 1450 m), as well as altered habitats, such as small farms (Harper et al., 2010).
These amphibians can be abundant and have been found in relatively high densities, up to 0.4/m2 (Harper et al., 2010).
it is assumed to lay eggs terrestrially that hatch directly into small versions of the adults (Harper et al., 2010).