This family consists of limbless amphibians called Caecilians. The other two family of Caecilians are Caeciliidae and Uraeotyphlidae. The genus Ichthyophis FITZINGER, 1826 comprises of 7 species, that are found in southern India, mainly in the Western Ghats. These creatures are fossorial in nature and are fond of wet and damp places. They avoid sun-lit areas and are mainly creatures of night. Due to their fossorial lifestyle, their eyes are small and rudimentary in function. These caecilians have a slimy fluid coating to keep the skin moist. They may come on to land and move about in day-time during heavy rains. The chief food of these caecilians is soft bodied invertebrates like earthworms. They are oviparous. The eggs are laid and the female is known to guard the eggs. Most species have lateral yellow stripes and some do not. Each species differ in the number of annuli present in the body and this is considered to be a major meristic character. The following species occur in southern India. An * indicates endemic species.

Ichthyophis beddomii* PETERS, 1879
Ichthyophis tricolor* ANNANDALE, 1909
Ichthyophis bombayensis* TAYLOR, 1960
Ichthyophis longicephalus* PILLAI, 1986
Ichthyophis subterrestris* TAYLOR, 1960
Ichthyophis malabarensis* TAYLOR, 1960
Ichthyophis peninsularis* TAYLOR, 1960