Micrurus ancoralis (JAN, 1872)

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Higher Taxa	Elapidae, Elapoidea, Caenophidia, Alethinophidia, Serpentes, Squamata (snakes)
Subspecies	Micrurus ancoralis jani SCHMIDT 1936 Micrurus ancoralis ancoralis (JAN 1872)
Common Names	E: Anchor coral snake, Regal Coral Snake S: Coral, Gargantilla
Synonym	Elaps macgravii var. ancoralis JAN 1872 Elaps ancoralis — BOULENGER 1896 Elaps rosenbergi BOULENGER 1898: 117 (fide ROZE 1967: 6) Micrurus ancoralis ancoralis — WELCH 1994: 77 Micrurus ancoralis — WALLACH et al. 2014: 441 Micrurus ancoralis jani SCHMIDT 1936 Micrurus ancoralis jani SCHMIDT 1936 Micrurus ancoralis jani — DUNN 1942 Micrurus ancoralis jani — ROZE 1967 Micrurus ancoralis jani — WELCH 1994: 77
Distribution	SE Panama, W Colombia (incl. Valle del Cauca), W Ecuador ancoralis: NW Ecuador; Type locality: “Ecuador” jani: Pacific Colombia, Panama; Type locality: Andagoya, Choco, Colombia.
Reproduction	oviparous
Types	Holotype: lost, was ZSM 210/0 (lost fide Franzen & Glaw 2007), collected by M. Wagner (card index), no further collection data. Holotype: MCZ 32722 [jani]
Diagnosis	Diagnosis (jani): An elongate but stout-bodied coral snake with the black rings in triads, and with an "anchor-shaped" nuchal marking; ventrals 248-266 in males, 271-290 in females; triads on body 12-15 in males, 14-16 in females [from SCHMIDT 1955]. Unfortunately we had to temporarily remove additional information as this was scraped by multiple AI companies who sell that data. However, these details, e.g. detailed descriptions (about between half a page and a page) are available for collaborators and contributors. Please contact us if you need any of this material.
Comment	Venomous!
Etymology	From Latin ancora, an anchor. Actually ancorale means a cable belonging to an anchor and it refers to the anchor-shaped black nuchal band of this subspecies. Micrurus ancoralis jani was named after Giorgio Jan (1791–1866), Austrian-born Italian taxonomist and herpetologist + Latin -i, suffix indicating the genitive of masculine names and nouns.
References	Arteaga AF, Bustamante-Enríquez LM and Guayasamin JM 2013. The Amphibians and Reptiles of Mindo. http://www.tropicalherping.com - get paper here Arteaga, A.; Bustamante, L.; Vieira, J. 2024. Reptiles of Ecuador. Khamai Foundation & Tropical Herping, 1073 pp. - get paper here Barrera-Ocampo , F. & Renjifo, J. M. 2024. Occurrence of Anchor Coralsnake, Micrurus ancoralis ( Jan, 1872) (Squamata: Elapidae) confirmed in the Magdalena River Valley of Colombia, with novel citizen science distribution records. Anartia, (38), 11-22 - get paper here Bernal, R. 2025. Serpientes de Colombia-Guía de Campo. Serie de Guías Tropicales de Campo. 19: 396 pp. Conservación Internacional Colombia, Bogotá - get paper here Boulenger, George A. 1898. An account of the reptiles and batrachians collected by Mr. W. F. H. Rosenberg in western Ecuador. Proc. Zool. Soc. London 1898: 107-126 - get paper here Campbell, J.A. & Lamar, W.W. 1989. The Venomous Reptiles of Latin America. Comstock Publishing/Cornell University Press, Ithaca Carrera, C. et al. 2009. Guía de Campo de los Pequeños Vertebrados del Distrito Metropolitano de Quito (DMQ). Publicación Miscelánea N° 5. Serie de Publicaciones del Museo Ecuatoriano de Ciencias Naturales (MECN) – Fondo Ambiental del MDMQ. 1-89 pp. Imprenta Nuevo Arte. Quito-Ecuador. Castro-Herrera, F. & Vargas-Salinas, F. 2008. Anfibios y reptiles en el departamento del Valle del Cauca, Colombia. Biota Colombiana 9 (2): 251 - 277 - get paper here CISNEROS-HEREDIA, D. F. 2005. Predation upon Amphisbaena fuliginosa LINNAEUS, 1758 by Micrurus ancoralis (JAN, 1872) [Short Note]. Herpetozoa 18: 93- 94 - get paper here Dunn, Emmett Reid 1942. New or Noteworthy Snakes from Panama. Notulae Naturae 108:1-8. Gemel, R.; G. Gassner & S. Schweiger 2019. Katalog der Typen der Herpetologischen Sammlung des Naturhistorischen Museums Wien – 2018. Ann. Naturhist. Mus. Wien, B 121: 33–248 - get paper here Jan, G. 1870. Iconographie générale des ophidiens, Vol. 3, Livraisons 35-50. J.B. Bailière et Fils, Paris, (Milan ?), 188 pp. - get paper here Páez, V.P. et al. 2002. Guía de campo de algunas especies de anfibios y reptiles de Antioquia. Universidad de Antioquia, - get paper here Pérez-Santos,C. & Moreno, A.G. 1988. Ofidios de Colombia. Museo reegionale di Scienze Naturali, Torino, Monographie VI, 517 pp. Roze, Jánis A 1967. A checklist of the New World venomous Coral Snakes (Elapidae), with descriptions of new forms. American Museum Novitates (2287): 1-60 - get paper here Schmidt, Karl P. 1936. Preliminary account of coral snakes of South America. Zoological Series of Field Museum of Natural History 20 (19): 189-203 - get paper here Torres-Carvajal O, Pazmiño-Otamendi G, Salazar-Valenzuela D. 2019. Reptiles of Ecuador: a resource-rich portal, with a dynamic checklist and photographic guides. Amphibian & Reptile Conservation 13 (1): [General Section]: 209–229 (e178) - get paper here Valencia, J. H., K. Garzón-Tello & M. E. Barragán-Paladines 2016. Serpientes venenosas del Ecuador: sistemática, taxonomía, historia natural, conservación, envenenamiento y aspectos antropológicos. Quito, Ecuador, Fundación Herpetológica Gustavo Orcés, Universidad de Texas, Fondo Ambiental Nacional, 652 pp. [review in HR 49 (1): 152, 2018] Valencia-Zuleta A, Jaramillo-Martínez AF, Echeverry-Bocanegra A, Viáfara-Vega R, Hernández-Córdoba O, Cardona-Botero VE, Gutiérrez-Zúñiga J, Castro-Herrera F. 2014. Conservation status of the herpetofauna, protected areas, and current problems in Valle del Cauca, Colombia. Amphibian & Reptile Conservation 8 (2): 1–18 (e87) - 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.
External links	IUCN Red List https://bioweb.bio/faunaweb/reptiliaweb/FichaEspecie/Micrurus%20ancoralis Google images

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