Protobothrops elegans

Protobothrops elegans is a venomous pitviper species endemic to Japan in the southern Ryukyu Islands. No subspecies are currently recognized.[2] Common names include: elegant pitviper,[3] Sakishima habu (サキシマハブ),[4] and elegant tree viper.[5]

Protobothrops elegans
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Reptilia
Order: Squamata
Suborder: Serpentes
Family: Viperidae
Genus: Protobothrops
Species:
P. elegans
Binomial name
Protobothrops elegans
(Gray, 1849)
Synonyms
  • Craspedocephalus elegans
    Gray, 1849
  • Trimeresurus luteus
    Boettger, 1895
  • Lachesis luteus – Boulenger, 1896
  • Lachesis lutea – Boettger, 1898
  • Trimeresurus elegans
    – Stejneger, 1907
  • Trimeresurus mucrosq[uamatus]. elegans – Mell, 1929
  • Protobothrops elegans
    – Kraus, Mink & Brown, 1996[1]

Description

Scalation includes 25 (sometimes 23) rows of dorsal scales at midbody, 179-192 (males) or 182-196 (females) ventral scales, 63-90 subcaudal scales, and 8 (sometimes 7 or 9) supralabial scales.[3]

During 1965–2011, 2447 snakebites from this snake are reported with one fatality.[6]

Geographic range

It is found in Japan in the southern Ryukyu Islands. The type locality is unknown. Boulenger listed it as "---- ?" while Gray's original 1849 description gives "West Coast of [North?] America." A restriction to "Ishigaki-Shima [Ryukyu Islands, Japan]" was proposed by Stejneger (1907).[1]

See also

References
  1. McDiarmid RW, Campbell JA, Touré T. 1999. Snake Species of the World: A Taxonomic and Geographic Reference, Volume 1. Herpetologists' League. 511 pp. ISBN 1-893777-00-6 (series). ISBN 1-893777-01-4 (volume).
  2. "Trimeresurus elegans". Integrated Taxonomic Information System. Retrieved 25 July 2008.
  3. Gumprecht A, Tillack F, Orlov NL, Captain A, Ryabov S. 2004. Asian Pitvipers. GeitjeBooks. Berlin. 1st Edition. 368 pp. ISBN 3-937975-00-4.
  4. Mehrtens JM. 1987. Living Snakes of the World in Color. New York: Sterling Publishers. 480 pp. ISBN 0-8069-6460-X.
  5. Brown JH. 1973. Toxicology and Pharmacology of Venoms from Poisonous Snakes. Springfield, Illinois: Charles C. Thomas. 184 pp. LCCCN 73-229. ISBN 0-398-02808-7.
  6. "Archived copy" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 2013-05-02. Retrieved 2013-03-11.CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link) 沖縄県における平成23 年の毒蛇咬症 沖縄県衛生環境研究所

Further reading
  • Gray, J.E. 1849. Catalogue of the Specimens of Snakes in the Collection of the British Museum. Trustees of the British Museum. London. xv + 125 pp. (Craspedocephalus elegans, p. 7.)


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