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Cryptophis pallidiceps (GÜNTHER, 1858)

IUCN Red List - Cryptophis pallidiceps - Least Concern, LC
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Higher TaxaElapidae (Hydrophiinae), Colubroidea, Caenophidia, Alethinophidia, Serpentes, Squamata (snakes)
Subspecies 
Common NamesE: Western Carpentaria Snake, Northern Small-eyed Snake 
SynonymHoplocephalus pallidiceps GÜNTHER 1858: 214
Denisonia pallidiceps — BOULENGER 1896
Denisonia nigrescens BOULENGER 1896
Cryptophis pallidiceps — WORRELL 1961: 26
Cryptophis pallidiceps — COGGER 1983: 220
Rhinoplocephalus pallidiceps — HUTCHINSON 1990
Rhinoplocephalus pallidiceps — COGGER 2000: 679
Cryptophis pallidiceps — GREER 2006 (online)
Cryptophis pallidiceps — SOMAWEERA 2009
Cryptophis pallidiceps — WILSON & SWAN 2010: 466
Rhinoplocephalus pallidiceps — WALLACH et al. 2014: 641
Cryptophis pallidiceps — COGGER 2014: 876
Cryptophis pallidiceps — EIPPER & EIPPER 2024: 114 
DistributionAustralia (Northern Territory, Western Australia)

Type locality: "Port Essington" [= Port Essington, ext. N Northern Territory, N Australia, 11°10'S, 132°08'E, elevation 0 m] via lectotype selection.  
Reproductionovoviviparous 
TypesLectotype: BMNH 1946.1.20.65; Syntypes: BMNH 1946.1.18.88 (NE Australia); BMNH 1946.1.20.64-65 (Port Essington), from Port Essington, N. T. and NE Australia (the latter is erroneous); original BMNH records show that the correct locality is NW Australia. Designation by Wells & Wellington (1995). 
DiagnosisDiagnosis (genus): Maxillary about as far forward as palatine with a pair of en-
larged venom fangs followed by five to seven smaller teeth; post-frontals in contact with prefrontals which are sutured more or less to the lateral margin of frontals. Pupil round; canthus rostralis absent; nasal scale in contact with preocular; midbody scales in 15 to 17 rows; anal and subcaudals single. (Worrell 1961)


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CommentVenomous!

Type species: Hoplocephalus pallidiceps GÜNTHER 1858: 214 is the type species of the genus Cryptophis WORRELL 1961: 26.

Reference images: see Uetz et al. 2024 for high-resolution reference images for this species. 
EtymologyNamed after Latin “pallidus” = pale or yellow(ish) and “-ceps”, short suffix for “caput” = head.

The genus Cryptophis was presumably named after the Greek kryptos (hidden) plus ophis (snake). Possibly a reference to the secretive nocturnal nature of the species, or that the generic allocation of the species had remained hidden by previous allocation to Hoplocephalus. Derivation not stated by Worrell (1961). 
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.
  • Eipper T & Eipper S 2024. SNAKES OF AUSTRALIA. Princeton University Press, Princeton and Oxford, 368 pp. - get paper here
  • Günther, A. 1858. Catalogue of Colubrine snakes of the British Museum. London, I - XVI, 1 - 281 - get paper here
  • Jolly, C., Schembri, B., & Macdonald, S. 2023. Field Guide to the Reptiles of the Northern Territory. CSIRO Publishing, Melbourne - get paper here
  • Parkin, T., Jolly, C. J., de Laive, A., & von Takach, B. 2020. Snakes on an urban plain: Temporal patterns of snake activity and human–snake conflict in Darwin, Australia. Austral Ecology - get paper here
  • Smith, L. A. 1978. The elapid snakes Denisonia pallidiceps and Denisonia suta in the Kimberleys of Western Australia. Western Australian Naturalist 14: 75-76 - get paper here
  • Somaweera, R. 2009. Snakes of Darwin. Poster, University of Sydney
  • Uetz, P.H.; Patel, M.; Gbadamosi, Z.; Nguyen, A.; Shoope, S. 2024. A Reference Database of Reptile Images. Taxonomy 4: 723–732 - 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.
  • Worrell, E. 1961. Herpetological Name Changes. Western Australian Naturalist 8: 18—27. - get paper here
 
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