Hemiaspis signata

Hemiaspis signata
Scientific classification
Kingdom:Animalia
Phylum:Chordata
Class:Reptilia
Order:Squamata
Suborder:Serpentes
Family:Elapidae
Genus:Hemiaspis
Species: H. signata
Binomial name
Hemiaspis signata
(Jan, 1859) [1]
Synonyms
  • Alecto signata Jan, 1859
  • Denisonia signata
    — Boulenger, 1896
  • Drepanodontis signata
    — Rankin, 1972
  • Hemiaspis signata
    — Cogger, 1983 [2]

Hemiaspis signata (common names: black-bellied swamp snake[3] and marsh snake[4]) is a species of venomous elapid snake endemic to Australia, where it is found along the east coast.[5]

Recognisable by two distinctive narrow white lines on the face, the colour can range from pale olive to black top with a dark grey to black belly. Adults can grow to 70 cm in length, but most specimens are smaller than this. Their diet consists mainly of skinks and frogs.[4]

References

  1. ↑ "Hemiaspis signata (Jan, 1859)". Global Biodiversity Information Facility. Retrieved 20 July 2014.
  2. ↑ "Hemiaspis signata ". The Reptile Database. www.reptile-database.org.
  3. ↑ Isbister, GK; Dawson, AH; Whyte, IM (March 2002). "Two cases of bites by the black-bellied swamp snake (Hemiaspis signata)". Toxicon. 40 (3): 317–9. doi:10.1016/s0041-0101(01)00221-5. PMID 11711130.
  4. 1 2 "Whip Snakes and Marsh Snakes Fact Sheet" (PDF). Queensland Museum. 2011. Retrieved 20 July 2014.
  5. ↑ "Hemiaspis signata (Jan, 1859) - Black-bellied Swamp Snake". Atlas of Living Australia. Retrieved 20 July 2014.

Further reading

  • Boulenger GA. 1896. Catalogue of the Snakes in the British Museum (Natural History). Volume III., Containing the Colubridæ (Opisthoglyphæ and Proteroglyphæ) ... London: Trustees of the British Museum (Natural History). (Taylor and Francis, printers). xiv + 727 pp. + Plates I-XXV. (Denisonia signata, pp. 338–339).
  • Jan G. 1859. "Plan d'une Iconographie descriptive des Ophidiens, et Description sommaire de nouvelles espèces de Serpents ". Revue et Magasin de Zoologie Pure et Appliquée, Paris, Series 2, 11: 122-130. (Alecto signata, new species, p. 128). (in French).
  • Jan G, Sordelli F. 1873. Iconographie générale des Ophidiens, Quarante-troisième livraison. Paris: Baillière. Index + Plates I-VI. (Alecto signata, Plate VI, figure 5). (in French).
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