Discovery of the largest lungless tetrapod, Atretochoana eiselti (Taylor, 1968) (Amphibia: Gymnophiona: Typhlonectidae), in its natural habitat in Brazilian Amazonia

We report the occurrence of the limbless and lungless tetrapod, Atretochoana eiselti, in two widely separated BrazilianAmazonian lowland localities, one (Mosqueiro island and Baía de Marajó, Belém) near the mouth of the Amazon riverand another (Cachoeira Santo Ant nio) near the border between Brazil and Bolivia in the Madeira river. It is shown thatthis species is not an inhabitant of cool, oxygen rich and fast running water in elevated localities as supposed until now,but on the contrary occurs in warm (24-30 °C), turbid, fast running water in the lowland Brazilian Amazon basin. Wedescribe the probable habitat and three freshly preserved specimens (one male, two females) and compare them tothe only two specimens known; some data are provided about the biology of this species, that seems to have a widedistribution in Brazilian Amazonia and possibly also occurs in other countries, like Bolivia.