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Vermicella snelli STORR, 1968

IUCN Red List - Vermicella snelli - Least Concern, LC
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Higher TaxaElapidae (Hydrophiinae), Colubroidea, Caenophidia, Alethinophidia, Serpentes, Squamata (snakes)
Subspecies 
Common Names 
SynonymVermicella annulata snelli STORR 1968: 82
Vermicella annulata snelli — COGGER 1983: 239
Vermicella snelli — COGGER 2000: 696
Vermicella snelli — WILSON & SWAN 2010
Vermicella snelli — WALLACH et al. 2014: 786 
DistributionAustralia (N Western Australia)

Type locality: Mundiwindi, 23° 51'S, 120° 09'E, W. A.  
Reproductionoviparous 
TypesHolotype: WAM R19203 
DiagnosisDiagnosis: Vermicella snelli can be differentiated from V. multifasciata and V. intermedia by condition of the internasal scales (present in V. snelli) and from V. annulata, V. intermedia, and V. multifasciata by ventral scale number (higher in V. snelli). V. snelli has wider black and white bands than V. intermedia and V. multifasciata. V. snelli has a thinner relative body width than V. annulata, V. intermedia, and V. vermiformis. See Figs 4-6 for interspecific comparisons in these characters (Keogh & Smith 1996).

Variation: Of the 11 V . snefti specimens, less than half (36%) have body and tail bands completely encircling the body, whereas the other specimens display a mottled black and white pattern on the ventral surface. Ventral scale number and subcaudal number are sexually dimorphic. Females have more ventral scales ( P < 0.05), and fewer subcaudal scales than do males ( P < 0.05)- see Table I. The geographic range is small and there are no obvious patterns of geographic variation (Keogh & Smith 1996). 
CommentVenomous! 
EtymologyNamed after the collector of the types, C. Snell. 
References
  • Cogger, H. G. 2014. Reptiles and Amphibians of Australia, 7th ed. CSIRO Publishing, xxx + 1033 pp. - get paper here
  • Cogger, H.G. 2000. Reptiles and Amphibians of Australia, 6th ed. Ralph Curtis Publishing, Sanibel Island, 808 pp.
  • DEREZ, CHANTELLE M.; KEVIN ARBUCKLE, ZHIQIANG RUAN, BING XIE, YU HUANG, LAUREN DIBBEN, QIONG SHI, FREEK J. VONK, BRYAN G. FRY 2018. A new species of bandy-bandy (Vermicella: Serpentes: Elapidae) from the Weipa region, Cape York, Australia. Zootaxa 4446 (1): 001–012 [erratum in Zootaxa 4461(4): 600] - get paper here
  • Keogh, J.S.; Smith, S.A. 1996. Taxonomy and natural history of the Australian bandy-bandy snakes (Elapidae: Vermicella) with a description of two new species. Journal of Zoology 240: 677-701 - get paper here
  • Storr, G. M. 1968. The genus Vermicella (Serpentes : Elapidae) in Western Australia and the Northern Territory. J. Royal Soc. Western Australia. 50: 80-92 - get paper here
  • Wallach, Van; Kenneth L. Williams , Jeff Boundy 2014. Snakes of the World: A Catalogue of Living and Extinct Species. [type catalogue] Taylor and Francis, CRC Press, 1237 pp.
  • Wilson, S. & Swan, G. 2010. A complete guide to reptiles of Australia, 3rd ed. Chatswood: New Holland, 558 pp.
 
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