Cienega Colorado Worm Salamander

Oedipina uniformis is a moderately sized salamander, measuring up to 57 mm in snout-vent length and 215 mm in total length (Savage, 2002). This salamander has an extremely slender, elongated body and tail and tiny limbs, hands, and feet, giving it a worm-like appearance (Savage, 2002). Individuals are usually uniformly dark in tone and may be tan, dark brown, gray, slate, or black (Leenders, 2001). Ventrally the coloration is a less intense gray black (Savage, 2002). The head, body, and tail are all roughly the same width (Wake, 2003), with the head slightly wider than the neck (Leenders, 2001). The tail is fragile and can be twice the length of the body (Leenders, 2001). Hands and feet are tiny and are almost always syndactylous (Savage, 2002). Nineteen to twenty costal grooves are present on the sides of the body (Savage, 2002). Oedipina uniformis has relatively large eyes with black irises. It is difficult to tell Oedipina (worm salamander) species from one another because they are very similar in appearance (Leenders, 2001).The karyotype is 2N=26, with all chromosomes having two arms, and up to eight supernumerary chromosomes present (Kezer, Sessions, and Leon, 1989; Sessions and Kezer, 1991; Green, 1991). This species has strongly heteromorphic sex chromosomes, with females being XX (Kezer, Sessions, and Leon, 1989; Sessions and Kezer, 1991).A Spanish-language species account can be found at the website of Instituto Nacional de Biodiversidad (INBio) (http://darnis.inbio.ac.cr/FMPro?-DB=UBIpub.fp3&-lay=WebAll&-Format=/ubi/detail.html&-Op=bw&id=4365&-Find).

Oedipina uniformis occurs only in Costa Rica, on humid premontane and lower montane slopes in the region surrounding the Meseta Central, which ranges from 750-2150 m in elevation (Savage, 2002). It is most commonly found in or under rotted logs, leaf litter, and mats of moss (Savage, 2002).

Oedipina uniformis salamanders are semifossorial (Garcia-Paris et al., 2000). They are nocturnal and shy creatures, preferring to shelter under leaf litter, under wet moss mats, in or under decaying logs, or in old insect burrows (Leenders, 2001). When they are caught, these fast-moving salamanders engage in serpentine flipping, whipping their tails back and forth violently in order to escape the potential predator (Wake, 2003; Dodd and Brodie, 1976). If a predator grasps the tail, it breaks off (Wake, 2003). These salamanders lay large yolky eggs in cavities in the soil (Wake, 2003). The adult diet consists of small arthropods (Wake, 2003).

This species was once common but is now rarely seen due to loss of habitat from agriculture and urbanization (Wake, 2003).

Oedipina uniformis is a species of salamander in the family Plethodontidae. It is found in mountains and lowlands of central Costa Rica to the Panamian border and likely to occur in Panama.

Oedipina uniformis inhabits humid premontane and lower montane forests where it lives in leaf-litter, under decaying logs, and in moss banks. It can, however, withstand significant habitat modification, and has also been found in pastures, gardens and even cities.

It is generally not threatened by habitat loss.