The new species was discovered near Buzawade village in Chandgad taluka of Kolhapur district and named after Chandgadi, the local Marathi dialect spoken in the region
Scientists found the specimens during field surveys in Aug 2025, with the type locality recorded in the immediate vicinity of Buzawade village. India has 41 recognised caecilian species, while the addition of G. chandgadi takes the number of known species in the genus Gegeneophis to 12, according to accounts of the discovery.
Scientists said the finding highlights how biodiversity can survive beneath the soil even outside formally protected habitats. Kolkata: Scientists have discovered a new species of rare, subterranean, legless amphibian in the northern Western Ghats of Maharashtra , adding to the known biodiversity of one of India’s richest yet poorly explored regions. The new species, Gegeneophis chandgadi, is a caecilian — an amphibian that spends most of its life underground and can be mistaken for an earthworm or small snake. It was discovered near Buzawade village in Chandgad taluka of Kolhapur district and named after Chandgadi, the local Marathi dialect spoken in the region. The species has been formally described in the Records of the Zoological Survey of India . The discovery was made by researchers from the Zoological Survey of India’s Western Regional Centre in Pune, Yashwantrao Chavan Mahavidyalaya, Halkarni, Savitribai Phule Pune University and the Mhadei Research Centre in Goa. What makes the discovery significant is its habitat. The animal was found not deep inside a protected forest but in a landscape comprising homes, farms and other human-modified areas. The discovery also reinforces the conservation importance of the Western Ghats, a global biodiversity hotspot with high amphibian endemism.