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Suta monachus (STORR, 1964)

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Higher TaxaElapidae (Hydrophiinae), Colubroidea, Caenophidia, Alethinophidia, Serpentes, Squamata (snakes)
Subspecies 
Common NamesE: Monk Snake, Hooded Snake 
SynonymDenisonia monachus STORR 1964: 89
Suta monachus MCDOWELL 1970
Unechis monachus COGGER 1975
Unechis monachus — COGGER 1983: 238
Rhinoplocephalus monachus STORR 1984
Suta monachus — HUTCHINSON 1990
Suta monachus — WELCH 1994: 109
Suta monachus — COGGER 2000: 690
Parasuta monachus — GREER 2006 (online)
Parasuta monachus — WILSON & SWAN 2010: 492
Parasuta monachus — WALLACH et al. 2014: 534
Suta monachus — MARYAN et al. 2020: 21 
DistributionAustralia (S Northern Territory, South Australia, Western Australia)

Type locality: Kalgoorlie, 30'43'S, 121° 27'E, W. A.  
Reproductionovovivparous. 
TypesHolotype: WAM R20606 
DiagnosisDiagnosis: A medium-sized, moderately slender species of Suta (total length to 460 mm this study, males mean 341 mm, females 326 mm) with: 15 midbody scale rows; 154‒174 ventrals; 23‒32 subcaudals; 160‒184 vertebrals; head slightly distinct from the neck; typically one rarely two secondary temporals, occasionally with one primary temporal; variable body colouration of rich reddish brown to bright red or pale orange; body scales often without dark pigment or with indistinct black base or blotch concealed by overlapping posterior edge of preceding scale and occasionally extending back as very fine edge on anterior facets or faint peppering; complete black hood on the head extending back on to first 1‒4, mostly 3 vertebrals on the nape; typically without pale markings in front of the eyes; very minimal pale indents behind the eyes, mostly to midpoint level of the lower primary temporals (Maryan et al. 2020: 22).


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CommentVenomous!

Habitat: partly arboreal (Harrington et al. 2018).

Habitat. Suta monachus occupies a variety of semiarid to arid vegetation associations growing on light to heavy, often stony soils, including Acacia- dominated woodlands, particularly Mulga Acacia aneura F. Muell and shrublands, Triodia-dominated sandplains and dunes, particularly in eastern parts of range, and rocky areas such as granite outcrops and ironstone ridges (Wilson & Knowles 1988; Ehmann 1992; Bush et al. 2007; Cogger 2014; Wilson & Swan 2017).
In these vegetation associations, specimens of S. monachus particularly during cooler weather, can be raked from deep leaf litter, spoil-heaps, piles of dead vegetation, particularly Triodia clumps, found in abandoned ter- mitaria, insect including Mulga Ant Polyrhachis Smith nests and lizard burrows, Triodia clumps and earth cracks and under logs, stumps, rocks and rubbish, especially pieces of old iron and fragmented concrete at derelict mines or other structures. Additionally, when seasonal activity is optimum, S. monachus can be funnel or pit-trapped in buckets and nocturnally observed while driving or head-torching on roads, tracks and open ground. On occasions when nocturnal activity is productive, up to 5‒7 individuals of both S. monachus and S. fasciata can be observed on a sealed road in a single night (B. Budrey & B. Bush, pers. obs.) (Maryan et al. 2020: 27).

Distribution: see map in Maryan et al. 2020: 26 (Fig. 12). Not in NSW 
EtymologyFrom the Latin monachus (a monk) in reference to the dark hood. (G. Shea, pers. comm., 9 Feb 2024) 
References
  • Bush, B. & Maryan, B. 2006. Snakes and Snake-like Reptiles of Southern Western Australia. Snakes Harmful & Harmless, Stoneville, Perth, Western Australia, 40 pp. - get paper here
  • 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.
  • Harrington, Sean M; Jordyn M de Haan, Lindsey Shapiro, Sara Ruane 2018. Habits and characteristics of arboreal snakes worldwide: arboreality constrains body size but does not affect lineage diversification. Biological Journal of the Linnean Society 125 (1): 61–71 - get paper here
  • Maryan, B., Gaikhorst, G., & Parkhurst, B. 2024. The terrestrial herpetofauna of the Zuytdorp coast and hinterland of Western Australia: Exceptional richness in a global biodiversity hotspot. Western Australian Naturalist, 33, 3
  • MARYAN, BRAD; IAN G. BRENNAN, MARK N. HUTCHINSON, LUKAS S. GEIDANS 2020. What’s under the hood? Phylogeny and taxonomy of the snake genera Parasuta Worrell and Suta Worrell (Squamata: Elapidae), with a description of a new species from the Pilbara, Western Australia. Zootaxa 4778 (1): 1–47 - get paper here
  • Storr, G. M. 1964. Denisonia monachus, a new elapid snake from Western Australia. Western Australian Naturalist 9: 89-90 - get paper here
  • Storr, G.M. 1981. The Denisonia gouldii species-group (Serpentes, Elapidae) in Western Australia. Rec. West. Aust. Mus. 8: 501-515 - 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.
 
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