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Clelia scytalina (COPE, 1867)

IUCN Red List - Clelia scytalina - Least Concern, LC
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Higher TaxaColubridae (Dipsadinae), Colubroidea, Caenophidia, Alethinophidia, Serpentes, Squamata (snakes)
Subspecies 
Common NamesE: Mexican Snake Eater
S: Culebrera Mexicana 
SynonymScolecophis scytalinus COPE 1867: 320
Oxyrhopus proximus BOCOURT 1897: 856
Clelia clelia immaculata SMITH 1942: 394
Clelia scytalina — STUART 1963: 90
Clelia scytalina — PETERS & OREJAS-MIRANDA 1970: 64
Clelia scytalina — LINER 1994
Clelia scytalina — ZAHER 1996
Clelia scytalina — SAVAGE 2002
Clelia scytalina — WALLACH et al. 2014: 170
Clelia scytalina — MATA-SILVA et al. 2015 
DistributionMexico (Chiapas, Oaxaca, Veracruz, Jalisco, Guerrero), Belize, W Guatemala

Type locality: Tabasco, Mexico

immaculata: Mexico (Jalisco); Type locality: “Guadalajara, Jalisco.  
Reproductionoviparous 
TypesHolotype: USNM 6581
Holotype: USNM 24966 [immaculata] 
DiagnosisUnfortunately we had to temporarily remove additional information as this was scraped by multiple AI companies who sell that data to their customers. These details, e.g. detailed descriptions or comparisons (about 1152 characters), are available for collaborators and contributors. Please contact us for details. 
CommentMimicry: Clelia scytalina (juvenile) mimicks Micrurus limbatus and M. diastema (TORRE-LORANCA et al. 2006).

Distribution: Not in Panama fide Köhler (2003); not in Yucatan state (Mexico), fide Gonzalez-Sanchez et al. 2017. Not in Nicaragua fide Javier Sunyer, pers. comm., 20 Feb 2024. Not in Colombia fide Bernal (2025). Not in Costa Rica, Panama, Colombia (Pérez-Santos & Moreno 1988), or Ecuador fide IUCN. 
EtymologyNamed after Greek scytale (σκυτάλη), a staff, cudgel, club + Latin -ina, having the nature or condition of. It's also a diminutive of the Greek word for "viper", scytale, which is a reference to the snake-like appearance of the head of a species of fish, the graveldiver (genus Scytalina). The reference is not clear. The snake head is really not similar to a viper and although the body looks cylindrical (like many other snakes) it does not seem a good distinguishing factor to name the species for. 
References
  • Aguilar-López JL, Luría-Manzano R, Pineda E, Canseco-Márquez L 2021. Selva Zoque, Mexico: an important Mesoamerican tropical region for reptile species diversity and conservation. ZooKeys 1054: 127-153 - 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
  • Bocourt, M. E. 1873. In: A. Duméril, M. F. Bocourt, and F. Mocquard, (1870-1909), Etudes sur les reptiles, p. i-xiv; In Recherches Zoologiques pour servir a l'Histoire de Ia Faune de l'Amérique Centrale et du Mexique. Mission Scientifique au Mexique et dans l'Amérique Centrale, Recherches zoologiques. Part 2, sect. 1. Imprimerie Impériale, Paris, Livr. 2-15, pp. 33-860. - get paper here
  • Casas-Andreu, G., F.R. Méndez-De la Cruz and X. Aguilar-Miguel. 2004. Anfibios y Reptiles; pp. 375–390, in A.J.M. García-Mendoza, J. Ordoñez and M. Briones-Salas (ed.). Biodiversidad de Oaxaca. Instituto de Biología, UNAM-Fondo Oaxaqueño para la Conservación de la Naturaleza-World Wildlife Fund, México, D. F.
  • Chacón-Juárez, F & Vásquez-Cruz, V; 2018. Geographic Distribution: Clelia scytalina (Mexican Snake Eater). Herpetological Review 49 (4): 717 - get paper here
  • Cope, E.D. 1867. Fifth contribution lo the herpetology of tropical America. Proc. Acad. nat. Sci. Philadelphia, 18 [1866]: 317-323 - get paper here
  • García, A. & Ceballos, G. 1994. GUIA DE CAMPO DE LOS REPTILES Y ANFIBIOS DE LA COSTA DE JALISCO, MEXICO. FUNDACION ECOLOGICA DE CUIXMALA, A.C. INSTITUTO DE BIOLOGIA, UNAM - get paper here
  • Giovanetto, L.A., Sequeira, D., Prosen, E., Mantilla, W., Bolanos, S., Ellis, A. & Samuel, C. 2018. Clelia scytalina (Highland Mussarana, Mexican Snake Eater) Diet. Herpetological Review 49 (1): 125-126. - get paper here
  • Griffin, R.K., Lewis, T.R., Tzanopoulos, J. et al. 2025. Natural history traits influence winners and losers for herpetological communities in disturbed tropical habitats. Oecologia 207, 52 (2025) - get paper here
  • Grünwald, Christoph Imre, Nadia Pérez-Rivera, Iván Trinidad Ahumada-Carrillo, Héctor Franz-Chávez and Brandon Thomas La Forest. 2016. New distributional records for the herpetofauna of Mexico. Herpetological Review 47 (1): 85-90 - get paper here
  • Heimes, P. 2016. Snakes of Mexico. Chimaira, Frankfurt, 572 pp
  • Johnson, Jerry D.; Vicente Mata-Silva, Elí García Padilla, and Larry David Wilson 2015. The Herpetofauna of Chiapas, Mexico: composition, distribution, and conservation. Mesoamerican Herpetology 2 (3): 272–329. - get paper here
  • Köhler, G. 2001. Reptilien und Amphibien Mittelamerikas, Bd. 2: Schlangen. Herpeton-Verlag (Offenbach), 174 pp.
  • Köhler, G. 2003. Reptiles of Central America. Herpeton Verlag, 367 pp. [review in Copeia 2004: 429] - get paper here
  • Köhler, G. 2008. Reptiles of Central America. 2nd Ed. Herpeton-Verlag, 400 pp.
  • Lee, J. C. 2000. A field guide to the amphibians and reptiles of the Maya world. Cornell University Press, Ithaca,
  • Lee, J.C. 1996. The amphibians and reptiles of the Yucatán Peninsula. Comstock, Cornell University Press, Ithaca, 500 pp.
  • Lemos-Espinal JA, Smith GR, Pierce LJS, Painter CW 2020. The amphibians and reptiles of Colima, Mexico, with a summary of their conservation status. ZooKeys 927: 99-125 - get paper here
  • Mata-Silva, Vicente, Jerry D. Johnson, Larry David Wilson and Elí García-Padilla. 2015. The herpetofauna of Oaxaca, Mexico: composition, physiographic distribution, and conservation status. Mesoamerican Herpetology 2 (1): 6–62 - get paper here
  • Morato, S.A.A.; Franco, F.L. & Sanches, E.J. 2003. Uma nova espécie de Clelia (Serpentes, Colubridae) do sul do Brasil. Phyllomedusa 2 (2): 93-100 - get paper here
  • Muñoz-Alonso, Luis Antonio; Jorge Nieblas-Camacho,<br />Marina Alba Chau-Cortez, Alondra Berenice González-Navarro, Jaime López-Pérez & Juan Pérez-López 2017. Diversidad de anfibios y reptiles en la Reservade la Biosfera Selva El Ocote: su vulnerabilidad ante la fragmentación y el cambio climático. In: Lorena Ruiz-Montoya et al. (eds), Vulnerabilidad social y biológica ante el cambio climático en la Reserva de la Biosfera Selva El Ocote. El Colegio de la Frontera Sur, pp.395-448 - get paper here
  • Palacios-Aguilar, Ricardo & OSCAR FLORES-VILLELA 2018. An updated checklist of the herpetofauna from Guerrero, Mexico. Zootaxa 4422 (1): 1-24 - get paper here
  • Pérez-Hernández, Ricardo Josué, Ernesto Raya-García and Alejandro Chaves. 2015. Geographic Distribution: Clelia scytalina (Mexican snake eater). Herpetological Review 46 (1): 61 - get paper here
  • Pérez-Santos,C. & Moreno, A.G. 1988. Ofidios de Colombia. Museo reegionale di Scienze Naturali, Torino, Monographie VI, 517 pp.
  • Rodríguez-Canseco, Jesús Mauricio, Krystal Lucía González-Estupiñan, Erika Sugey García-Mata, José Villareal-Méndez and Andrea Bombela Cruz. 2015. Clelia scytalina (Mexican snake-eater) diet. Herpetological Review 46 (4): 638 - get paper here
  • Sasa, M., Arias, E., & Chaves, G. 2025. Annotated list of amphibians and reptiles of Costa Rica: The role of the Museum of Zoology in cataloging the country’s herpetological diversity. Revista de Biología Tropical, 73(S2): e64536-e64536 - get paper here
  • Savage, J.M. 2002. The Amphibians and Reptiles of Costa Rica: A Herpetofauna Between Two Continents, Between Two Seas. University of Chicago Press, 934 pp. [review in Copeia 2003 (1): 205]
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  • Stuart, L.C. 1963. A checklist of the herpetofauna of Guatemala. Misc. Publ. Mus. Zool., Univ. Michigan (No. 122): 1-150 - get paper here
  • TORRE-LORANCA, M. DE LA; A., R. G. MARTINEZ-FUENTES, L. CANSECO-MARQUEZ, AND U. O. GARCIA-VAZQUEZ 2020. New Records of Amphibians and Reptiles from Sierra de Zongolica, Veracruz and Puebla, Mexico. Herpetological Review 51: 550-553.
  • Torre-Loranca, M.A. de la; Aguirre-León, G. & López-Luna, M.A. 2006. Coralillos verdaderos (Serpentes: Elapidae) y Coralillos falsos (Serpentes: Colubridae) de Veracruz, México. Acta Zoologica Mexicana 22 (3): 11-22 - get paper here
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  • Torres-Hernández, LA, Ramírez-Bautista A, Cruz-Elizalde R, Hernández-Salinas U, Berriozabal-Islas C, DeSantis DL, Johnson JD, Rocha A, García-Padilla E, Mata-Silva V, Fucsko LA, and Wilson LD. 2021. The herpetofauna of Veracruz, Mexico: composition, distribution, and conservation status. Amphibian & Reptile Conservation 15(2) [General Section]: 72–155 - 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.
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