You are here » home › search results › Ninia sebae

Ninia sebae (DUMÉRIL, BIBRON & DUMÉRIL, 1854)

IUCN Red List - Ninia sebae - Least Concern, LC
iNaturalist logo

Can you confirm these amateur observations of Ninia sebae?

Add your own observation of
Ninia sebae »

Find more photos by Google images search: Google images

Higher TaxaColubridae (Dipsadinae), Colubroidea, Caenophidia, Alethinophidia, Serpentes, Squamata (snakes)
SubspeciesNinia sebae morleyi (SCHMIDT & ANDREWS 1936)
Ninia sebae immaculata SCHMIDT & RAND 1957
Ninia sebae punctulata (BOCOURT 1883)
Ninia sebae sebae (DUMÉRIL, BIBRON & DUMÉRIL 1854) 
Common NamesE: Redback Coffee Snake
G: Rote Kaffeeschlange
S: Dormilona Común 
SynonymStreptophorus sebae DUMÉRIL, BIBRON & DUMÉRIL 1854: 515
Streptophorus sebae — BOCOURT 1883
Ninia sebae — GARMAN 1884: 95
Ninia sebae — DUNN 1935: 11
Ninia sebae — PETERS & OREJAS-MIRANDA 1970: 223
Ninia sebae — LINER 1994
Ninia sebae — SAVAGE 2002: 620
Nina sebae — LILLYWHITE 2014: 134 (in error)
Ninia sebae — MATA-SILVA et al. 2015
Ninia sebae — WALLACH et al. 2014: 487
Ninia sebae — MARTÍNEZ-FONSECA et al. 2024

Ninia sebae sebae (DUMÉRIL, BIBRON & DUMÉRIL 1854)
Elapoidis fasciatus HALLOWELL 1855: 35
Streptophorus sebae collaris JAN 1862: 27
Streptophorus sebae var. dorsalis BOCOURT 1883: 547
Ninia collaris — GARMAN 1884: 95
Ninia sebae sebae — SCHMIDT & ANDREWS 1936: 170
Ninia sebae sebae — TAYLOR 1954: 695
Ninia sebae sebae — SCHMIDT & RAND 1957
Ninia sebae sebae — PETERS & OREJAS-MIRANDA 1970: 224
Ninia sebae sebae — LINER 2007

Ninia sebae immaculata SCHMIDT & RAND 1957
Ninia sebae immaculata — KLUGE 1984: 68
Ninia sebae immaculata — O’SHEA 2018

Ninia sebae punctulata (BOCOURT 1883)
Streptophorus sebae var. punctulata BOCOURT 1883: 547
Ninia sebae punctulata — SCHMIDT & RAND 1957: 79
Ninia sebae punctulata — PETERS & OREJAS-MIRANDA 1970: 224
Ninia sebae punctulata — LINER 2007

Ninia sebae morleyi SCHMIDT & ANDREWS 1936
Ninia sebae morleyi SCHMIDT & ANDREWS 1936
Ninia sebae morleyi — BURGER & WERLER 1954: 657
Ninia sebae morleyi — DUNDEE et al. 1986
Ninia sebae morleyi — LINER 2007 
DistributionMexico (Chiapas, Oaxaca, Veracruz, Quintana Roo, Yucatan, Campeche [HR 26: 157], Puebla), Belize, Guatemala,
Honduras, El Salvador, Nicaragua, Costa Rica, Panama; elevation (Honduras): 0-1650 m elevation

Type locality: Mexico; restricted to Veracruz (SCHMIDT& ANDREWS 1936).

immaculata: SE Nicaragua; Type locality: Rio Escondido (or Bluefields River), southeastern Nicaragua

morleyi: Mexico (Yucatan); Type locality: Mexico, Yucatan, Chichen Itzá.

punctulata: Guatemala, Mexico (Chiapas); Type locality: restricted to vicinity of Quezaltenango on the Pacific slope of southern Guatemala (by Schmidt & Rand 1957).  
Reproductionoviparous 
TypesLectotype: MNHN-RA 3443 (designated by Wallach et al. 2014). The other syntype, MNHN-RA 7303, seems to be lost. The Lectotype designation of MNHN 3778 fide Burger & Werler (1954: 655) is invalid (MNHN 3778 = Pseudoboa neuwiedi fide P. David, in litt.). Lectotype designation of MNHN 7303 fide L.D. Wilson & Meyer (1982: 81 & 1985: 73) is also invalid as the specimen is lost (seen by A. Hoge in 1978 so possibly lost in Butantan fire of 2010) fide P. David (in litt.).

Syntypes: ANSP 3407-08; ANSP 23004-05; Honduras [Elapoidis fasciatus]
Holotype: FMNH 11584 [immaculata]
Holotype: FMNH 20619 [morleyi]
Syntypes: MNHN-RA 1894.0096, MNHN-RA 5942, MNHN-RA 5942A, MNHN-RA 6060 and MNHN-RA 6060A (6 syntypes, catalog numbers may be inconsistent with MNHN web catalog) [punctulata] 
DiagnosisDiagnosis: Dorsal scales in 19 rows; upper labials 7 or 8; ventrals 131-156; caudals 40-74; red above, with or without black bars or spots on the sides; top of head black; a yellow collar and a broader black dorsal saddle; belly usually immaculate, never checkered (Schmidt & Rand 1957: 74)


Additional details (856 characters) are available for collaborators and contributors. Please contact us for details. 
CommentSynonymy after PETERS & OREJAS-MIRANDA 1970.

Relative abundance in Honduras: infrequent

Ninia sebae mimicks Micrurus bernadi, M. limbatus, and M. diastema (TORRE-LORANCA et al. 2006).

Diet: worms 
EtymologyNamed after the naturalist Albertus Seba (1665-1736) who illustrated the species first in his pre-Linnean “Thesaurus”. 
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
  • Angarita-Sierra, Teddy 2014. Hemipenial Morphology in the Semifossorial Snakes of the Genus Ninia and a New Species from Trinidad, West Indies (Serpentes: Dipsadidae) . South American J. Herp. 9 (2): 114-130 - get paper here
  • Beolens, Bo; Michael Watkins, and Michael Grayson 2011. The Eponym Dictionary of Reptiles. Johns Hopkins University Press, Baltimore, USA - get paper here
  • Bocourt, M. F. 1883. In A. Duméril, M. F. Bocourt, and F. Mocquard, (1870-1909), Etudes sur les reptiles, p. i-xiv, 1-1012. 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'Amér Imprimerie Impériale, Paris - get paper here
  • Campbell, J.A. 1998. Amphibians and reptiles of northern Guatemala, the Yucatán, and Belize. Norman: University of Oklahoma Press, xiii + 380 pp. - 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.
  • Colston, Timothy J.; José António L. Barão-Nóbrega, Ryan Manders, Alice Lett, Jamie Wilmott, Gavin Cameron, Sidony Hunter, Adam Radage, Etienne Littlefair, Robert J. Williams, Antonio Lopez Cen, Kathy Slater 2015. Amphibians and reptiles of the Calakmul Biosphere Reserve, México, with new records. Check List 11 (5): 1759 - get paper here
  • Duméril, A.M.C., G. BIBRON & A.H.A. DUMÉRIL 1854. Erpétologie générale ou Histoire Naturelle complète des Reptiles. Vol. 7 (partie 1). Paris, xvi + 780 S. - get paper here
  • Dundee, H. A., WHITE, D. A., & RICO GRAY,V. 1986. Observations on the distribution and biology of some Yucatán Peninsula amphibians and reptiles. Bull. Maryland Herp. Soc. 22 (2): 37-50 - get paper here
  • Dunn,E.R. 1935. The snakes of the genus Ninia. Proc. Nat. Acad. Sci. 21: 9-12. - get paper here
  • Gaige,H. 1936. Some reptiles and amphibians from Yucatan and Campeche, Mexico. Carnegie Inst. Wash. Publ., (457): 289-304.
  • García-Padilla, E., Mata-Silva, V., Villalobos-Juárez, I., López-Esquivel, E. A., Lavariega, M. C., Rocha, A., DeSantis, D. L., Melgar-Martínez, A. I., Johnson, J. D., Fucsko, L. A., Lazcano, D., & Wilson, L. D. 2022. Anfibios y reptiles de la región de los Chimalapas, Istmo de Tehuantepec, Oaxaca, México:: composición, categorización distribucional, estado de conservación y significado para la biodiversidad. Biología Y Sociedad, 5(10), 37–76 - get paper here
  • Garman, Samuel 1884. The reptiles and batrachians of North America. Mem. Mus. comp. Zool, Cambridge (Massachusetts), 8 (3): xxxiv + 185 pp. [1883] [CNAH reprint 10] - get paper here
  • Geiger, Ryan Duran, Nikolas Duran Geiger and Julie M. Ray. 2014. Geographic Distribution: Ninia sebae (culebrilla del cafe; coffee snake). Herpetological Review 45 (1): 95 - get paper here
  • González-Sánchez, V. H., J. D. Johnson, E. García-Padilla, V. Mata-Silva, D. L. DeSantis and L. D. Wilson. 2017. The Herpetofauna of the Mexican Yucatan Peninsula: composition, distribution, and conservation status. Mesoamerican Herpetology 4(2): 264–380 - get paper here
  • Guerra Centeno, Dennis; Héctor Fuentes Rousselin & David Morán Villatoro 2012. Serpientes de Guatemala: Guía para didentificación de especies. Universidad de San Carlos de Guatemala, 186 pp.
  • Hallowell, E. 1855. Contributions to South American Herpetology. Journal of the Academy of Natural Sciences, Philadephia (2) 3: 33-36 - get paper here
  • Heimes, P. 2016. Snakes of Mexico. Chimaira, Frankfurt, 572 pp
  • Henderson, C.L. 2010. Mammals, Amphibians, and Reptiles of Costa Rica - A field guide. University of Texas Press, Austin, 198 pp.
  • Hilje B, Chaves G, Klank J, Timmerman F, Feltham J, Gillingwater S, Piraino T, Rojas E 2020. Amphibians and Reptiles of the Tirimbina Biological Reserve: a baseline for conservation, research and environmental education in a lowland tropical wet forest in Costa Rica. Check List 16(6): 1633-1655 - get paper here
  • Jan, G. 1862. Enumerazione sistematico delle specie d'ofidi del gruppo Calamaridae. Arch. Zool., Anat. Fisiol., 2: 1-76. - get paper here
  • Jan, G. 1865. Iconographie générale des ophidiens. 12. Livraison. J.B. Bailière et Fils, Paris - get paper here
  • 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
  • Juárez-Peña, Carlos, Ángel Sosa Bartuano and Silvia Sigüenza-Mejia. 2016. New herpetofaunal records for Parque Nacional Montecristo, El Salvador. El Salvador, Santa Ana. Mesoamerican Herpetology 3(4): 1107–1113 - get paper here
  • Jur’ev, K. V. 1981. Albertus Seba und seine Rolle in der Entwicklung der Herpetologie [translated from the Russian original] Trudy. Zoologičeskij institut. Akademija nauk SSSR. Leningrad, 101 (1981): Fauna i ekologija amfibij i reptilij palearktičeskoj azii, 109 – 120. - get paper here
  • JUSTINEK, UWE 2020. Für 6 Tage auf Schlangensuche in Costa Rica. Ophidia 14 (1): 15-26
  • Köhler, G. 2008. Reptiles of Central America. 2nd Ed. Herpeton-Verlag, 400 pp.
  • Köhler, Gunther, J. Rogelio Cedeño-Vázquez, Manuela Spaeth and Pablo M. Beutelspacher-García. 2016. The Chetumal Snake Census: generating biological data from road-killed snakes. Part 3. Leptodeira frenata, Ninia sebae, and Micrurus diastema. Mesoamerican Herpetology 3 (4): 930–947 - get paper here
  • Kunz, Kriton 2015. Schlangen, die Wirbellose fressen. Terraria-Elaphe 2015 (5): 14-20 - get paper here
  • Laking AE, Solís JM, Brown T, Maddock ST, Burdekin O, Taylor P, Lonsdale G, Green SEW, Martin TE, Galdamez JR, Kolby JE, Erens J, Jocque M 2024. The amphibians and reptiles of Cusuco National Park, Northwest Honduras: updates from a long-term conservation programme. In: Lipińska M, Lopez-Selva MM, Sierra JM (Eds) Biodiversity research in Central America. Neotropical Biology and Conservation 19(2): 37-62 - get paper here
  • 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.
  • Lillywhite, Harvey B. 2014. How Snakes Work: Structure, Function and Behavior of the World's Snakes. Oxford University Press, New York, 256 pp
  • Liner, Ernest A. 2007. A CHECKLIST OF THE AMPHIBIANS AND REPTILES OF MEXICO. Louisiana State University Occasional Papers of the Museum of Natural Science 80: 1-60 - get paper here
  • López-Maroto, V., Sunyer, J., & García-Roa, R. 2023. The herpetofauna of Cerro Jesús María (Cordillera Dipilto-Jalapa), the second highest mountain in Nicaragua. Bol. Asoc. Herpetol. Esp. 34 - get paper here
  • Martínez-Fonseca JG, Holmes IA, Sunyer J, Westeen EP, Grundler MR, Cerda PA, Fernández-Mena MA, Loza-Molina JC, Monagan IV Jr., Nondorf D, Pandelis GG, Rabosky ARD 2023. A collection and analysis of amphibians and reptiles from Nicaragua with new country and departmental records. Check List 20(1): 58-125 - 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
  • McCranie J R 2011. The snakes of Honduras. SSAR, Salt Lake City, 725 pp.
  • McCranie, J. & Castañeda, F.E. 2005. The herpetofauna of Parque Nacional Pico Bonito, Honduras. Phyllomedusa 4 (1): 3-16 - get paper here
  • McCranie, James R. 2015. A checklist of the amphibians and reptiles of Honduras, with additions, comments on taxonomy, some recent taxonomic decisions, and areas of further studies needed. Zootaxa 3931 (3): 352–386 - get paper here
  • Mertens, R. 1952. Die Amphibien und Reptilien von El Salvador. Abh. senckenb. naturf. Ges. (Frankfurt) (No. 487): 120 pp.
  • 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 Re El Colegio de la Frontera Sur, pp.395-448 - get paper here
  • Neill, Wilfred T. and E. Ross Allen. 1959. Studies on the amphibians and reptiles of British Honduras. Publications of the Research Division Ross Allen's Reptiles Institute. 2 (1): 1-76
  • O’Shea, M. 2018. The Book of Snakes. Ivy Press / Quarto Publishing, London, - get paper here
  • Peters, James A.; Donoso-Barros, Roberto & Orejas-Miranda, Braulio 1970. Catalogue of the Neotropical Squamata: Part I Snakes. Bull. US Natl. Mus. 297: 347 pp. - 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]
  • Schmidt, K. P, & ANDREWS, E. W. 1936. Notes on snakes from Yucatán. Field Mus. Nat Hist. Zool. Ser. 20: 167-187. - get paper here
  • Schmidt, K. P., & RAND, A. S. 1957. Geographic variation in the Central American colubrine snake Ninia sebae. Fieldiana: Zoology 39 (10): 73-84. - get paper here
  • Solís, J. M., L. D. Wilson, and J. H. Townsend. 2014. An updated list of the amphibians and reptiles of Honduras, with comments on their nomenclature. Mesoamerican Herpetology 1: 123–144 - get paper here
  • Solorzano, A. 2004. Serpientes de Costa Rica - Snakes of Costa Rica. Editorial INBio, Costa Rica, 792 pp.
  • Stuart, L. C. 1935. A contribution to a knowledge of the herpetology of a portion of the savanna region of Central Peten, Guatemala. University of Michigan Museum of Zoology Miscellaneous Publications 29: 1-56 - get paper here
  • Sunyer, Javier 2014. An updated checklist of the amphibians and reptiles of Nicaragua. Mesoamerican Herpetology 1 (2): 186–202. - get paper here
  • Sunyer, Javier & José́ Gabriel Martínez-Fonseca 2023. An updated country checklist to the amphibians and reptiles of Nicaragua. REVISTA NICARAGÜENSE DE BIODIVERSIDAD (100): 1-25 - get paper here
  • Taylor, Edward H. 1939. Some Mexican serpents. Univ. Kansas Sci. Bull. 26 (13): 445-487 - get paper here
  • Taylor,E.H. 1954. Further studies on the serpents of Costa Rica. Univ. Kansas Sci. Bull. 36: 673-800. - 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
  • 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
  • Townsend, J. H., L. D. Wilson, M. Medina-Flores, E. Aguilar-Urbina, B. K. Atkinson et al. 2012. A premontane hotspot for herpetological endemism on the windward side of Refugio de Vida Silvestre Texíguat, Honduras. Salamandra 48 (2): 92-114 - get paper here
  • Urbina-Cardona, J. Nicolás; Mario Olivares-Pérez, Víctor Hugo Reynoso 2006. Herpetofauna diversity and microenvironment correlates across a pasture–edge–interior ecotone in tropical rainforest fragments in the Los Tuxtlas Biosphere Reserve of Veracruz, Mexico. Biological Conservation 132: 61–75 - get paper here
  • Vásquez-Cruz, V; Reynoso Martínez, A; Kelly-Hernández, A & León-López, E; 2018. Ninia sebae (Coffee Snake) Ectoparasites. Herpetological Review 49 (4): 758 - get paper here
  • VÁSQUEZ-CRUZ, VÍCTOR; ÉRIKA OLIVARES-BLANCO & ARLETH REYNOSO-MARTÍNEZ 2021. New Municipality Records of Amphibians and Reptiles from Las Altas Montañas Region in Central-west Veracruz, Mexico. Herpetological Review 52 (1): 90–93.
  • Vences M., Franzen M., Flaschendräger A., Schmitt R. & Regös J. 1998. Beobachtungen zur Herpetofauna von Nicaragua: kommentierte Artenliste der Reptilien. Salamandra 34 (1): 17-42 - 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, L.D. & McCranie, J.R. 2003. The herpetofauna of the cloud forests of Honduras. Amphibian & Reptile Conservation 3 (1): 34-48 - get paper here
  • 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
  • ZÚNIGA, LUIS GUALBERTO. 2021. NINIA SEBAE (Red Coffee Snake). REPRODUCTION. Herpetological Review 52 (1): 166. - get paper here
 
External links  
Is it interesting? Share with others:

As link to this species use URL address:

https://reptile-database.reptarium.cz/species?genus=Ninia&species=sebae

without field 'search_param'. Field 'search_param' is used for browsing search result.



Please submit feedback about this entry to the curator