Micrurus stewarti BARBOUR & AMARAL, 1928
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Micrurus stewarti
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| Higher Taxa | Elapidae, Colubroidea, Caenophidia, Alethinophidia, Serpentes, Squamata (snakes) |
| Subspecies | |
| Common Names | E: Panamenian Coral Snake |
| Synonym | Micrurus stewarti stewarti BARBOUR & AMARAL 1928: 100 Micrurus stewarti BARBOUR & AMARAL 1928 Micrurus schmidti DUNN 1940: 119 Micrurus smithi — MERTENS 1956: 544 (in error fide CAMPBELL & LAMAR 2004) Micrurus stewarti — ROZE 1967: 47 Micrurus stewarti — WELCH 1994: 89 Micrurus stewarti — ROZE 1996: 220 Micrurus stewarti — WALLACH et al. 2014: 454 |
| Distribution | Panama (around Canal Zone) Type locality: Sierra de Bruja, Panama. schmidti: Panama; Type locality: El VAlle de Anton, 2000 m elevation, some 50 miles west of Canal Zone. |
| Reproduction | oviparous |
| Types | Holotype: MCZ R-24924 Holotype: ANSP 21645, male; paratype: ANSP (female) [schmidti] |
| Diagnosis | Definition: A coral snake with only red and black bands over the entire body and with alternating longer and shorter bands. It has a large, red parietal band and the black nuchal band is 1 to 2 dorsals behind the parietals. The scales of the red bands have large black tips. Males have supraanal tubercles and females have weak keels or small tubercles (Roze 1996: 220). Description: Males have 200 to 207 (204.5) and females have 224 to 228 (255.3) ventrals; subcaudals 50 to 55 (52.5) in males and 36 to 40 (38.3) in females; temporals usually 1+1. Examined: 4 males and 4 females, including the holotypes. The snout is black to the frontal, followed by a parietal red band that covers the temporals and supralabials and extends beyond the tips of the parietals. Below, the head is predominantly red, including the genials, except for small black spots on the mental and the first two infralabials and a few black smudges on some other shields. The nuchal black bands are 12 to 16 dorsals and ventrals long and does not reach the parietals. The body is covered with red and black bands. The latter are usually of unequal size: alternating longer and shorter bands. The longer black bands are 8 to 14 dorsals and 7 to 12 ventrals long. The shorter black bands are 2 to 4 dorsals shorter and are usually reduced on the ventral side. The red bands are 2 to 4 dorsals and 3 to 6 ventrals long, with large, irregular black tips that are heavier and more conspicuous around each second black band. Red and black bands also alternate on the tail. The males have 13 to 25 (18.2) and the females have around 21 black body bands. On the tail, the males have 3 to 5 (3.5) and the females 3 to 4 (3.5) black bands (Roze 1996: 220). |
| Comment | Synonymy after PETERS & OREJAS-MIRANDA 1970 and ROZE 1996. Venomous! Abundance: This is a rare species: only 8 specimens have reached museums and nothing is known about its way of life (Roze 1996). |
| Etymology | Named after Thomas H. Stewart, collector of the holotype. |
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