Higher Taxa | Elapidae, Colubroidea, Caenophidia, Alethinophidia, Serpentes, Squamata (snakes) |
Subspecies | |
Common Names | E: Saddled Coral Snake (Blotched Coral Snake) S: Coralillo Ensillado |
Synonym | Elaps bernadi COPE 1887: 87 Micrurus bernadi — SCHMIDT 1933 Micrurus bernadi — ROZE 1996 Micrurus bernadi — CAMPBELL 2000 Micrurus bernadi — WALLACH et al. 2014: 442 |
Distribution | Mexico (W Hidalgo south to N Puebla, NW Veracruz?)
Type locality: Zacualtipan, Hidalgo, Mexico.
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Reproduction | oviparous. |
Types | Holotype: ANSP 14767, female |
Diagnosis | Diagnosis. A coral snake of the genus Micrurus with the normal body form and usual arrangement of head shields; ventrals about 208 in males, 225 in females; caudals about 44 in males and 38 in females; no trace of supra-anal keels; color pattern of black dorsal spots on red ground color [from SCHMIDT 1958].
Original description.—This species is founded on a specimen from Zacualtipan, Hidalgo, sent me by Dr. Santiago Bemad. It is allied to the E. epistema D. & B., but has better claim to be regarded as a species than that form. The head and nape are black above and below, except a band of yellow from lip to lip crossing the middle of the occipital plates. The body is red, and is marked by forty-one broadly oval black spots placed transversely and separated by narrow interspaces of two and three scales length. The red spots are not light bordered, and the red scales have no markings. The belly is unspotted. The tail is of lighter color than the body, and is marked by seven black rings. Gastrosteges, 218; anal divided; urosteges, 37. Total length 807 mm.; length of tail 90 [from COPE 1886, quoted in SCHMIDT 1958]. |
Comment | Considered as subspecies of Micrurus diastema by some authors (like E.A. Liner 1994). Venomous!
Mimicry: Micrurus bernadi is mimicked by Lampropeltis triangulum, Ninia sebae, and Pliocercus elapoides (TORRE-LORANCA et al. 2006). |
Etymology | Named after Santiago Bernad, collector of the holotype. |
References |
- Beolens, Bo; Michael Watkins, and Michael Grayson 2011. The Eponym Dictionary of Reptiles. Johns Hopkins University Press, Baltimore, USA - get paper here
- Camarillo,R.J.L. 1995. Distribution records for some amphibians and reptiles from Mexico. Bull. Maryland Herp. Soc. 31 (4): 195-197 - get paper here
- Campbell, J.A. 2000. A new species of venomous coral snake (Serpentes: Elapidae) from high desert in Puebla, Mexico. Proc. Biol. Soc. Washington 113 (1): 291-297 - get paper here
- Campbell, J.A. & Lamar, W.W. 1989. The Venomous Reptiles of Latin America. Comstock Publishing/Cornell University Press, Ithaca
- Cope, E.D. 1887. Catalogue of batrachians and reptiles of Central America and México. Bull. US Natl. Mus. 32: 1-98 - get paper here
- GUTIÉRREZ MAYÉN, MA. GUADALUPE Y JORGE SALAZAR ARENAS 2007. HERPETOFAUNA DE LOS MUNICIPIOS DE CAMOCUAUTLA, ZAPOTITLÁN DE MÉNDEZ Y HUITZILAN DE SERDÁN, DE LA SIERRA NORTE DE PUEBLA. HERPETOFAUNA DE TRES MUNICIPIOS DE LA SIERRA NORTE DE PUEBLA, pp.197-223
- Heimes, P. 2016. Snakes of Mexico. Chimaira, Frankfurt, 572 pp
- Lemos-Espinal, Julio A., Geoffrey R. Smith 2015. Amphibians and reptiles of the state of Hidalgo, Mexico. Check List 11 (3): 1642 - get paper here
- Roze, J. A. 1996. Coral Snakes of the Americas. Krieger, Malabar, Florida
- Schmidt, K. P. 1933. Preliminary account of the coral snakes of Central America and Mexico. Field Mus. Nat. Hist. Zool. Ser. 20: 29-40. - get paper here
- Schmidt, Karl P. 1958. Some rare or little-known Mexican coral snakes. Fieldiana: Zoology 39 (19): 201-212 - get paper here
- 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
- 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.
- Woolrich-Piña, G. A., E. García-Padilla, D. L. DeSantis, J. D. Johnson, V. Mata-Silva, and L. D. Wilson. 2017. The herpetofauna of Puebla, Mexico: composition, distribution, and conservation status. Mesoamerican Herpetology 4(4): 791–884 - get paper here
- Woolrich-Piña, G; Smith, G R; Lemos Espinal, J A & Méndez De La Cruz, F R; 2019. Micrurus bernadi (Saddled Coralsnake) Thermal ecology. Herpetological Review 50 (1): 163 - get paper here
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