Sinomicrurus sauteri (STEINDACHNER, 1913)
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Sinomicrurus sauteri
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| Higher Taxa | Elapidae, Colubroidea, Caenophidia, Alethinophidia, Serpentes, Squamata (snakes) |
| Subspecies | |
| Common Names | E: Oriental Coral Snake |
| Synonym | Oligodon sauteri STEINDACHNER 1913: 219 Hemibungarus matsudai OSHIMA 1920: 21 Hemibungaus [sic] matsudai — TAKAHASHI 1930 Hemibungarus sauteri sauteri — MAKI 1931: 162 Hemibungarus sauteri — POPE 1935: 344 Calliophis japonicus sauteri — LOVERIDGE 1946: 153 (part.) Calliophis sauteri — TAKARA 1962: 138 (part.) Calliophis sauteri sauteri — KLEMMER 1963: 285 Calliophis japonicus sauteri — HARDING & WELCH 1980 Calliophis japonicus — GANS 1978: 18 (part.) Calliophis (Hemibungarus) sauteri — LUE 1989: 39 (part.) Hemibungarus japonicus sauteri — TORIBA in GOLAY et al. 1993: 141 Micrurus japonicus sauteri — WELCH 1994: 85 (part.) Hemibungarus sauteri — OTA, ITO & LIN 1999 Sinomicrurus sauteri — SLOWINSKI, BOUNDY & LAWSON 2001 Calliophis sauteri — LILLYWHITE 2014: 28 Sinomicrurus sauteri — WALLACH et al. 2014: 676 Sinomicrurus sauteri — SMART et al. 2021 Sinomicrurus sauteri hatori (TAKAHASHI 1930) Calliophis hatori TAKAHASHI 1930: 139 Hemibungarus sauteri hatorii — MAKI 1931: 164 Hemibungarus sauteri — OSHIMA 1944: 214 (part.) Calliophis japonicus sauteri — LOVERIDGE 1946: 153 Hemibungarus sauteri hatori — WANG & WANG 1956: 65 Calliophis sauteri — TAKARA 1962: 138 (part.) Calliophis sauteri hatori — KLEMMER 1963: 285 Calliophis japonicus — GANS 1978: 18 (part.) Calliophis (Hemibungarus) sauteri — LUE 1989: 39 Hemibungarus japonicus sauteri — TORIBA in GOLAY et al. 1993: 141 Micrurus japonicus sauteri — WELCH 1994: 85 (part.) Hemibungarus hatori — OTA, ITO & LIN 1999 Sinomicrurus hatori — SLOWINSKI, BOUNDY & LAWSON 2001 Sinomicrurus hatori — WALLACH et al. 2014: 676 |
| Distribution | S/C Taiwan Type locality: “Suishario, Formosa” hatori: NE Taiwan; Type locality: “Karenk, Formosa” [=Taiwan]. |
| Reproduction | oviparous |
| Types | Holotype: NMW 19788 Holotype: KUZ ? (Coll. Sci. Kyoto Imp. Univ. no. a, K. Kodaira, Feb. 1927); not designated but “formerly in Taiwan Library” fide WALLACH et al. 2014: 676 [hatori] |
| Diagnosis | |
| Comment | Venomous! Synonymy: mainly after OTA et al. 1999. The status of hatori has been controversial, with both considered valid species, subspecies (of sauteri) or synonyms, due to the lack of unambiguous diagnostic characters and a genetic distance smaller than what is typical between established sister species in this group (Smart et al. 2021). Based on consistent differences in meristics and color pattern (i.e., S. hatori presents lateral white-margined black bars and has fewer ventrals, while S. sauteri is free of lateral bars and has a larger number of ventrals), especially in the context of purported parapatry, Ota et al. (1999) assumed the presence of reproductive isolation between the two taxa and decided to treat them as separate species. Smart et al. 2021 synonymized hatori with sauteri, but given the 2% genetic difference (in cytb), these populations may be in the process of speciation. NCBI taxonomy ID: 1615764 [hatori] |
| Etymology | Probably named after Dr. Hans Sauter (1871-1943), a German entomologist who collected in Taiwan. Steindachner doesn’t explain the etynology or mention any Sauter in his (short) description. S. s. hatori was named after S. Hatori, a Japanese herpetologist in Formosa (Taiwan) which was a Japanese possession until the early 20th century. |
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