Taiwan Coral Snake

The Taiwan coral snake is endemic to Taiwan.

Taiwan Coral Snake (Sinomicrurus sauteri)

Order: Squamata
Family: Elapidae (fixed front- fang venomous snakes)
Other common names: Taiwan Coral Snake

Distinguishing Features

Max. length 98 cm. Small snake; total length is up to 98 cm. It has 13-15 rows of scales, which are smooth, glossy, and irridescent. Head is broadly rectangular to square and not distinct from neck; body is slim, round; tail is short and ends in a strongly chitinized, rigid tip. Eye is medium-sized; iris is dark gray to black and indistinct since it blends in with dark color of head; pupil is round, black. There are no loreals. Tongue is dull red to flesh-colored, with diffuse gray fork tips. Fangs are small and in anterior part of upper jaw. Upper head is dark brown to black, mottled with light brown in forehead; there is a broad cream or white band across head behind eyes. The supralabials are intermittently white, black, or mottled. Upper body is dark brown, crimson, and distinctly marked with three black longitudinal stripes from neck to tip of tail; the mid-dorsal stripe is narrower than the lateral ones. Ventral head and neck are white to dirty white, sometimes mottled with black. The infralabials bear distinct lines of black pigment at junction of anterior-most scales. Ventral body and tail are white to dirty white, with irregular size and irregularly distributed spots or cross bands of black. Anal scale is divided and subcaudals are paired.

Geographical Range

Endemic to Taiwan, South and central Taiwan, at altitudes of 500-1500 m. Very rare

Habitat

Life History

The oviparous Taiwan Coral Snake is cathemeral (diurnal or nocturnal) and lives on montane forest floors, in stone cracks and among decayed plant matter. It is not aggressive, and very few reports of attacks by this snake have been recorded, but its venom contains strong neurotoxins which can be life-threatening. Little is known about its biology and ecology, but lizards and small snakes may be its staple foods.

Comments

Many field guides and standard works tend to dismiss the smaller elapids as of little concern. However, the complex nature of the venoms of these small snakes, and higher venom yields than anticipated, underscores the fundamental consideration that even lesser-known, small species may still be capable of clinically significant envenomings after exceptional bites in which a larger than usual quantity of venom is injected. Lethal evenomations have already occurred with other small elapids thought to be harmless, such as the tragic death of Hans Schnurrenberger by a 30 cm Sinomicrurus macclellandi; the initial bite was ignored until neurotoxic symptoms showed up 6 hours later, and death was 8 hours after envenomation. (B. G. Fry et al., 2003).