Caecilians, a special breed of snakes also known as ‘penis snakes’ and are native to Colombia and Venezuela, have been found in Florida.
Animal experts say they pulled them out from the Tamiami Canal near the Miami International Airport and they’ve been living there for the past two years .
Although they look more like snakes, caecilians belong to the Gymnophiona order of amphibians, and are known scientifically to be more closely related to frogs, toads, salamanders and newts.
Apart from the caecilians found in South Florida, no representatives of this lineage are presently known to live in the US.
Penis snakes can range in size from a few inches to five feet long and have extremely poor eyesight but have a pair of sensory tentacles between its eyes and nostril that helps it detect food, which it grabs with dozens of needle-like teeth.
The Florida Fish and Wildlife Conversation Commission says caecilians are harmless to humans.