You are here » home › advanced search › search results › Stenorrhina degenhardtii

Stenorrhina degenhardtii (BERTHOLD, 1846)

IUCN Red List - Stenorrhina degenhardtii - Least Concern, LC
iNaturalist logo

Can you confirm these amateur observations of Stenorrhina degenhardtii?

Add your own observation of
Stenorrhina degenhardtii »

Find more photos by Google images search: Google images

Higher TaxaColubridae, Colubrinae, Colubroidea, Caenophidia, Alethinophidia, Serpentes, Squamata (snakes)
SubspeciesStenorrhina degenhardtii ocellata JAN & SORDELLI 1876
Stenorrhina degenhardtii degenhardtii (BERTHOLD 1846)
Stenorrhina degenhardtii mexicana (STEINDACHNER 1867) 
Common NamesE: Degenhardt's Scorpion-eating Snake
G: Degenhardts Skorpionfresser
S: Alacranera de Degenhardt 
SynonymCalamaria Degenhardtii BERTHOLD 1846: 8
Stenorrhina degenhardtii — COPE 1876: 142
Stenorrhina Degenhardti — BOULENGER 1896: 399
Stenorrhina freminvillei — STAFFORD 1991 (in error)
Stenorrhina degenhardtii — LINER 1994
Stenorrhina degenhardtii — LEHR 2002: 205
Stenorrhina degenhardtii — WALLACH et al. 2014: 688
Stenorrhina degenhardtii — MARTÍNEZ-FONSECA et al. 2024

Stenorrhina degenhardtii ocellata JAN 1876
Stenorhina degenhardtii var. ocellata JAN & SORDELLI 1876
Stenorhina degenhardtii ocellata — ROZE 1959: 11
Stenorrhina degenhardtii ocellata — PETERS & OREJAS-MIRANDA 1970: 286
Stenorrhina degenhardtii ocellata — KORNACKER 1999: 136
Stenorrhina degenhardtii ocellata — SAVAGE & MCDIARMID 2017: 68

Stenorrhina degenhardtii degenhardtii (BERTHOLD 1846)
Stenorhina ventralis DUMÉRIL, BIBRON & DUMÉRIL 1854: 867
Stenorhina Kennicottiana COPE 1860: 242
Stenorhina ventralis — COPE 1869: 162
Stenorhina degenhardtii degenhardtii — JAN 1876
Stenorrhina degenhardti degenhardti — LAURENT 1949: 13
Stenorrhina degenhardti ventralis — LAURENT 1949: 13
Stenorrhina degenhardtii degenhardtii — PETERS & OREJAS-MIRANDA 1970

Stenorrhina degenhardtii mexicana (STEINDACHNER 1867)
Bergenia mexicana STEINDACHNER 1867: 92
Stenorhina mexicana — TAYLOR 1941: 122
Stenorrhina degenhardtii mexicana — SMITH 1943: 472
Stenorrhina degenhardtii mexicana — SMITH & TAYLOR 1945: 132
Stenorrhina degenhardtii mexicana — PETERS & OREJAS-MIRANDA 1970 
DistributionSE Mexico (incl. Chiapas, Oaxaca, Veracruz), Guatemala, El Salvador ?, Belize (Cayo [HR 27: 214]), Honduras (elevation 100-1630 m), Nicaragua, Costa Rica, Panama, Colombia, Venezuela (coastal range, Barinas [HR 32: 280]), W Ecuador, Peru.

Type locality: not stated [Neu-Granada implied from title of paper], but given as: "Provinz Popayan, etwa 2° N. B. und 301° L." by Berthold, 1846:4 [= "western Colombia, probably on the Pacific versant," according to Myers and Böhme, 1996:17]).

ocellata: Venezuela; Type locality: Puerto Cabello, Venezuela

mexicana: Mexico (C Veracruz southward to the Isthmus of Tehuantepec) (Smith & Taylor 1945).  
Reproductionoviparous 
TypesHolotype: ZFMK 36828, formerly ZIUG (Göttingen)
Holotype: ANSP 3752, Isthmus of Panama [Kennicottiana]
Holotype: unknown fide Smith & Taylor 1945: 132 [mexicana]
Holotype: ZMH, possibly lost as not mentioned by Hallermann 1998 [ocellata] 
DiagnosisDiagnosis: Stenorrhina degenhardtii can be distinguished from all other Honduran snakes, except Stenorrhinafreminvillii, in having the internasal fused to the anterior section of the nasal. Stenorrhinafreminvillii has a lineate dorsal pattern, at least anteriorly (versus blotched, spotted, or nearly uniformly brown in S. degenhardtii) (McCranie 2011: 210; diagnosis may not apply to range outside Honduras).


Unfortunately 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 2043 characters) are available for collaborators and contributors. Please contact us for details. 
CommentSynonymy after PETERS & OREJAS-MIRANDA 1970.

Max. total length: 65 cm

Type species: Calamaria Degenhardtii BERTHOLD 1846: 8 is the type species of the genus Stenorrhina DUMÉRIL 1853.

Diet: yes, they do eat scorpions! (Jackson et al. 2019). 
EtymologyNamed after a Mr. Degenhardt, an elusive German collector in New Grenada in the 1840s. He made a collection of herpetofauna that he sent to Berthold at Georg-August-Universitat Gottingen.

S. d. mexicana was named after Mexico.

S. d. ocellata was named after Latin ocellus = diminuitive of oculus: eye; with ocellated scales, or patches that look like eyes.

The genus was named after Greek steno (στενο), narrow, tight + Greek rhinos (ρινός), from (ῥῑς), nose. ["... Orifices des narines percés dans une seule plaque…"]. 
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
  • Arteaga, A.; Bustamante, L.; Vieira, J. 2024. Reptiles of Ecuador. Khamai Foundation & Tropical Herping, 1073 pp. - get paper here
  • Barquero-González, J.P., Stice, T.L., Gómez, G., & Monge-Nájera, J. 2020. Are tropical reptiles really declining? A six-year survey of snakes in a tropical coastal rainforest: role of prey and environment. Revista de Biología Tropical, 68(1): 336-343; doi:10.20944/preprints201908.0123.v1 - 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
  • 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
  • Berthold,A.A. 1846. Über verschiedene neue oder seltene Reptilien aus Neu-Granada und Crustaceen aus China. Abh. K. Gesell. Wiss. Göttingen 3: 3-32 - get paper here
  • Böhme, Wolfgang 2014. Herpetology in Bonn. Mertensiella 21. vi + 256 pp. - get paper here
  • Boulenger, G. A. 1896. On a case of simous malformation in a snake. Ann. Mag. nat. Hist. (6) 18: 399 - 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
  • Carvajal-Cogollo, J.E.; L.E. Rojas-Murcia. & G. Cárdenas-Arévalo 2020. Reptiles del Caribe colombiano/ Reptiles of the Colombian Caribbean. Tunja: Editorial UPTC, 268 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.
  • 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
  • Cope, E.D. 1860. Catalogue of the Colubridae in the Museum of the Academy of Natural Sciences of Philadelphia, with notes and descriptions of new species. Part II. Proc. Acad. Nat. Sci. Philadelphia 12: 241-266 - get paper here
  • Cope, E.D. 1870. Seventh contribution to the herpetology of tropical America. Proc. Amer. Philos. Soc. 11: 147-169 [1869] - get paper here
  • Cope, E.D. 1875. On the Batrachia and Reptilia of Costa Rica with notes on the herpetology and ichthyology of Nicaragua and Peru. Journal of the Academy of Natural Sciences of Philadelphia N.S. (2) 8: 93-183 [sometimes said to be published 1876 but see Murphy et al. 2007 for clarification]] - get paper here
  • Cruz-García, Keyko & Andrea E. Narváez 2024. Herpetofauna Diversity and Habitat Use Assessment in Two Remnant Forests of Western Ecuador South American Journal of Herpetology Dec 2024 Vol. 33, No. 1: 1-9 - get paper here
  • Diaz-Ricaurte, Juan Camilo 2019. Predation attempt on the Degenhardt's Scorpion-eating Snake Stenorrhina degenhardtii (Berthold, 1846) (Serpentes: Colubridae) by the False Coral Snake Erythrolamprus bizonus(Jan, 1863) (Serpentes: Dipsadidae) in Caldas, Colombia. Herpetology Notes 12: 331-333 - get paper here
  • Duméril, A. M. C., Bibron, G. & DUMÉRIL, A. H. A., 1854. Erpétologie générale ou histoire naturelle complète des reptiles. Tome septième. Deuxième partie, comprenant l'histoire des serpents venimeux. Paris, Librairie Encyclopédique de Roret: i-xii + 781-1536 - get paper here
  • Duméril, ANDRÉ MARIE CONSTANT 1853. Prodrome de la classifcation des reptiles ophidiens. Mém. Acad. Sci., Paris, 23: 399-536 - get paper here
  • 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
  • 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.
  • Hallermann, J. 1998. Annotated catalogue of the type specimens of the herpetological collection in the Zoological Museum of the University of Hamburg. Mitt. hamb. zool. Mus. Inst 95: 197-223.
  • Heimes, P. 2016. Snakes of Mexico. Chimaira, Frankfurt, 572 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
  • Jackson TNW, Jouanne H and Vidal N 2019. Snake Venom in Context: Neglected Clades and Concepts. Front. Ecol. Evol. 7:332 - get paper here
  • Jan, G. 1876. Iconographie générale des ophidiens. 48. 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
  • Köhler, G. 2008. Reptiles of Central America. 2nd Ed. Herpeton-Verlag, 400 pp.
  • Kornacker,P.M. 1999. Checklist and key to the snakes of Venezuela. PaKo-Verlag, Rheinbach, Germany, 270 pp.
  • 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
  • Lancini,A.R. & Kornacker,P.M. 1989. Die Schlangen von Venezuela. Armitano Editores C.A., Caracas, 1-381
  • Laurent, R. 1949. Note sur quelques reptiles appartenant à la collection de l'Institut Royal des Sciences Naturelles de Belgique. III. Formes americaines. Bull. Inst. roy. Sci. nat. Belgique, Bruxelles, 25 (9): 1-20 [4]
  • 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.
  • Lehr, E. 2002. Amphibien und Reptilien in Peru. Natur und Tier-Verlag (Münster), 208 pp. - get paper here
  • LOAIZA-LANGE, AMARU; DIEGO ARMIJOS-OJEDA & DIEGO MARÍNARMIJOS. 2022. STENORRHINA DEGENHARDTII (Degenhardt’s Scorpion-eating Snake). DIET and COLORATION. Herpetological Review 53 (3): 521–522.
  • 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, 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
  • MURPHY R. W., SMITH A. and NGO A. 2007. The versions of Cope's Batrachia and Reptilia of Costa Rica. Bibliotheca Herpetologica 7 (1): - get paper here
  • Natera-Mumaw, Marco; Luis Felipe Esqueda-González & Manuel Castelaín-Fernández 2015. Atlas Serpientes de Venezuela. Santiago de Chile, Dimacofi Negocios Avanzados S.A., 456 pp. - get paper here
  • NAVARRETE, L. F. & RODRIGUEZ-ACOSTA, A. & CONTRERAS, Y. & BRICEÑO, J. M. 2005. Stenorrhina degenhardtii ocellata JAN, 1876 in Venezuela [Short Note]. Herpetozoa 18: 89- 91 - get paper here
  • Peralta-Hernández, Rafael; Raúl Osvaldo Peralta-Hernández, Gabriela Parra-Olea, Aldo López-Velázquez, Mirna G. García-Castillo 2020. Amphibians and reptiles from cloud forest at Cumbre de Tonalixco in the central Veracruz highlands of Mexico. IRCF Reptiles & Amphibians 27 (3): 501-505 - get paper here
  • Pérez-Santos,C. & Moreno, A.G. 1988. Ofidios de Colombia. Museo reegionale di Scienze Naturali, Torino, Monographie VI, 517 pp.
  • Ray, Julie M. and Patty Ruback 2015. Updated checklists of snakes for the provinces of Panamá and Panamá Oeste, Republic of Panama. Mesoamerican Herpetology 2 (2): 168-188 - get paper here
  • RIVAS, GILSON A.; CÉSAR R. MOLINA, GABRIEL N. UGUETO, TITO R. BARROS, CÉSAR L. BAR- RIO-AMORÓS & PHILIPPE J. R. KOK 2012. Reptiles of Venezuela: an updated and commented checklist. Zootaxa 3211: 1–64 - get paper here
  • Roze, J.A. 1959. Taxonomic notes on a collection of Venezuelan reptiles in the American Museum of Natural History. American Museum Novitates (1934): 1-14 - get paper here
  • Santos-Barrera, Georgina; Jesus Pacheco, Fernando Mendoza-Quijano, Federico Bolaños,<br />Gerardo Cháves , Gretchen C. Daily, Paul R. Ehrlich & Gerardo Ceballos 2008. Diversity, natural history and conservation of amphibians and reptiles from the San Vito Region, southwestern Costa Rica. Rev. Biol. Trop. 56 (2): 755-778 - 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. & McDiarmid, R.W. (eds.) 2017. The Herpetological Contributions of Giorgio Jan (1791-1866). SSAR, 920 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
  • Señaris, J. Celsa; María Matilde Aristeguieta Padrón, Haidy Rojas Gil y Fernando J. M. Rojas-Runjaic 2018. Guía ilustrada de los anfibios y reptiles del valle de Caracas, Venezuela. Ediciones IVIC, Instituto Venezolano de Investigaciones Científicas (IVIC). Caracas, Venezuela. 348 pp.
  • Simón-Salvador PR, Arreortúa M, Flores CA, Santiago-Dionicio H, González-Bernal E 2021. The role of Indigenous and Community Conservation Areas in herpetofauna conservation: a preliminary list for Santa Cruz Tepetotutla, Oaxaca Mexico. ZooKeys 1029: 185-208 - get paper here
  • Slevin, J.R. 1942. Notes on a collection of reptiles from Boquete, Panama, with the description of a new species of Hydromorphus. Proc. Cal. Acad. Sci. 23: 463-480 - get paper here
  • Smith, Hobart M. 1943. Summary of the collections of snakes and crocodilians made in Mexico under the Walter Rathbone Bacon Traveling Scholarship. Proceeding of the U. S. National Museum, 93 (3169): 393-504 - 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.
  • Stafford,P. J. 1996. Geographic Distribution. Stenorrhina degenhardtii. Herpetological Review 27 (4): 214 - get paper here
  • Steindachner, F. 1867. In: Reise der Österreichischen Fregatte Novara um die Erde in den Jahren 1857, 1858,1859 unter den Befehlen des Commodore B. von Wüllerstorf-Urbair (Zoologie), Vol. 1, part 3 (Reptilien p.1-98). K. Gerold's Sohn/Kaiserlich-Königl. Hof- und Staatsdruckerei, Wien [1869 on title page] - get paper here
  • 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. 1941. Herpetology Miscellany, No. II. Univ. Kansas Sci. Bull. 27 (7): 105-132 - 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
  • 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, Víctor; Luis Canseco-Márquez 2020. AMPHIBIAN AND REPTILES OF THE COLONIA AGRÍCOLA RINCÓN DE LAS FLORES, TEZONAPA, VERACRUZ, MEXICO. Rev. Latinoamer. Herp. 3 (1): 66-80 - get paper here
  • Villa,J. 1987. The colubrid snake Stenorrhina degenhardtii in Nicaragua. J. Elisha Mitchell Sci. Soc. 102 (3): 137-139. - 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., & MEYER, J. R. 1985. The Snakes of Honduras. 2d ed. Milwaukee Publ. Mus. Contrib. Biol. & Geol. No. 6, 150 pp. - get paper here
  • 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
 
External links  
Is it interesting? Share with others:

As link to this species use URL address:

https://reptile-database.reptarium.cz/species?genus=Stenorrhina&species=degenhardtii

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



Please submit feedback about this entry to the curator