Calliophis nigrotaeniatus PETERS, 1863
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Calliophis nigrotaeniatus
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| Higher Taxa | Elapidae, Colubroidea, Caenophidia, Alethinophidia, Serpentes, Squamata (snakes) |
| Subspecies | |
| Common Names | E: Banded Malaysian Coral Snake, Striped Coral Snake G: Gestreifte Bauchdrüsenotter |
| Synonym | Calliophis furcates var. nigrotaeniatus PETERS 1863 Adeniophis nigrotaeniatus — PETERS 1871 Callophis intestinalis var. nigrotaeniatus — FISCHER 1885: 3 Elaps sumatranus LIDTH DE JEUDE 1890 Doliophis intestinalis var. everetti BOULENGER 1896 Doliophis intestinalis var. nigrotaeniatus — BOULENGER 1896: 403 Doliophis intestinalis var. sumatrana — BOULENGER 1896: 403 Doliophis intestinalis var. sumatranus — LIDTH DE JEUDE 1922 Maticora intestinalis forma nigrotaeniata — SMITH 1931 Maticora intestinalis nigrotaeniata — LOVERIDGE 1944 Maticora intestinalis everetti — LOVERIDGE 1944 Maticora intestinalis sumatrana — HAAS 1950 Maticora intestinalis everetti — MANTHEY 1983 Maticora intestinalis everetti — MALKMUS & SAUER 1993 Maticora intestinalis everetti — WELCH 1994: 75 Maticora intestinalis nigrotaeniatus — WELCH 1994: 75 Calliophis intestinalis thepassi — MALKMUS et al. 2002 Calliophis intestinalis everetti — NGUYEN et al. 2009 Calliophis nigrotaeniatus — FUKUYAMA et al. 2020 |
| Distribution | Indonesia (Sumatra), peninsular Malaysia (Cameron Highlands), E Malaysia (Borneo: Sabah, Mt. Penrissen; Mt. Kinabalu) Type locality: Bukit Barisan mountain range (Kepahiang), Sumatra, Indonesia. |
| Reproduction | oviparous. |
| Types | Lectotype: ZMB 4906, designated by Fukuyama et al. 2020. Paralectotype: ZMB 4885, unlocated fide Fukuyama et al. 2020. Other specimens: ZRC 2.3944, from Mt. Kinabalu, Sabah. ZRC 2.3946, 2.3948, from the Cameron Highlands, Pahang. MZB Oph 2176, from Taman Nasional Bukit Barisan Selatan, Sumatra. BMNH 1915.12.2.41, from Sungai Kumbang (now Mt. Kerinci, Kerinci Seblat National Park, Jambi, Sumatra). USNM 70849, 70850, from Kepahiang, Bengkulu, Sumatra; KUHE 53910, from Mt. Penrissen, Sarawak. Holotype: RMNH 4331, from Kaju Tanam (now Kayu Tanam, Padang Pariaman, Sumatra Barat Province, Sumatra, Indonesia) [Elaps sumatranus] Syntypes: BMNH 1895.11.7.30–31, two specimens from Mt. Kinabalu, Sabah; note that Sang et al. 2009 considered the types of everetti as “unknown” [Doliophis intestinalis var. everetti] |
| Diagnosis | Diagnosis: The following combination of characters distinguishes C. nigrotaeniatus from other species of the genus: relatively small body size (maximum SVL: 587 mm), six supralabials, six infralabials, one preocular, two postoculars, 13 scale rows along entire body, anal single, ventrals 209– 230 in males and 216–246 in females, subcaudals 24–29 in males and 22–33 in females, no light vertebral stripe, a pair of gray or dark blue stripes on each side of dorsum, ventrum bright red with 19–46 black bands on ventrals and 2–5 black bands on subcaudals (Fukuyama et al. 2020). Comparisons. Calliophis nigrotaeniatus can be distinguished from all other species in the group of small, longglanded coral snakes as follows: from C. bilineatus by the color pattern (a pair of gray or dark blue stripes on each side of dorsum and bright red ventrum with 19–46 black bands in C. nigrotaeniatus vs. a pair of white or yellow stripes on each side of the dorsum and white ventrum with 42–56 black bands in C. bilineatus) and fewer ventrals (209–230 in males and 216–246 in females vs. 231–261 in males and 256–285 in females), from C. intestinalis by the color pattern (a pair of gray or dark blue stripes on each side of dorsum, bright red ventrum with black bands and 2–5 tail bands in C. nigrotaeniatus vs. a bifurcated yellow vertebral stripe on dorsum, white ventrum with black bands and 0–3 tail bands in C. intestinalis), a greater relative tail length (7.8–9.9% in males and 6.5–9.5% in females vs. 5.9–8.3% in males and 4.1–5.3% in females), a lower number of ventrals (209–230 in males and 216–246 in females vs. 220–268 in males and 234–292 in females) and more subcaudals (24–29 in males and 23–33 in females vs. 21–26 in males and 17–21 in females), from C. philippinus by the color pattern (a pair of gray or dark blue stripes on each side of dorsum and bright red ventrum with black bands in C. nigrotaeniatus vs. a pair of tan or reddish-brown stripes on each side of dorsum and white ventrum with black bands in C. philippinus) and fewer ventrals (209–230 in males and 216–246 in females vs. 228–252 in males and 237–270 in females) and from C. suluensis by the color pattern (a pair of gray or dark blue stripes on each side of dorsum and bright red ventrum with black bands in C. nigrotaeniatus vs. a pair of tan or reddishbrown stripes on each side of dorsum and white ventrum with black bands in C. suluensis) and more ventrals (209– 230 in males and 216–246 in females vs. 202–207 in males and 209–217 in females) (Table 3) (Fukuyama et al. 2020). Color in life: dorsal ground color black; a pair of gray or dark blue stripes running on upper end of 3rd to 5th row of dorsal scales on each side of body from nape to tail tip; upper and lower edges of 1st dorsal scale rows often white, becoming gradually faded near tail; an interrupted red vertebral line on tail; top of head reddish-brown with dark spots on prefrontals, frontal, supraoculars and parietals; supralabials bright red and posterior half of 3rd supralabials and anterior half of 4th supralabials black; mental, infralabials, chin-shields and throat bright red; ventrals and subcaudals bright red with 19–46 black bands on ventrals and 2–5 black bands on subcaudals (Fukuyama et al. 2020). Oiriginal description: Peters (1863) described the coloration of the type specimens of Callophis f. var. nigrotaeniatus as follows: three black and two gray stripes on the dorsum and red (white in alcohol) and black bands on the ventrum. In addition, in the description of Elaps sumatranus, Lidth De Jeude (1890) described the coloration of the type specimen as similar to Callophis f. var. nigrotaeniatus, with three black and two violet stripes on the dorsum and red and black bands on the venter (after Fukuyama et la. 2020). Boulenger (1896a) further described C. i. everetti (as Doliophis intestinalis var. everetti), as having three black and two gray stripes on the dorsum. |
| Comment | Venomous! |
| Etymology | Named after Latin niger, nigra, nigrum = black or dark, and taenia = band or stripe, referring to the dark stripes on the dorsum of the species. |
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