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Coniophanes is a large genus of colubrid snakes, typically referred to as black-striped snakes, but they also go by many other common names. The genus consists of 13 species, and despite the common name, not all of them display striping. They are found primarily in Mexico and Central America, but range as far north as the United States, in southern Texas, and as far south as South America, in Peru.
[edit] Description
Snakes of the genus Coniophanes grow to a length of 12-18 inches and are typically brown in color, with black striping down their sides and center of their back, with a red or orange underside. Some of the species, such as C. alvarezi are solid brown colored.
[edit] Behaviour
Coniophanes snakes are secretive burrowers. They spend most of their time digging into loose soils, forest leaf litter, or under rotting cactus. They are nocturnal, emerging from their underground retreats in the late evening to feed on frogs, lizards, small rodents, and smaller snakes. They are oviparous, laying clutches of up to 10 eggs in loose soil which hatch in around 40 days, depending on relative temperature and humidity. Hatchlings are approximately 6.5 inches in length.
[edit] Species
- Chiapan Stripeless Snake, Coniophanes alvarezi (Campbell, 1989) - Mexico
- Andresen's Snake, Coniophanes andresensis (Bailey, 1937) - Isla San Andres, Colombia
- Two-spotted Snake, Coniophanes bipunctatus - Mexico, Guatemala, Honduras, Belize, Nicaragua, Panama, El Salvador, and Costa Rica
- Coniophanes bipunctatus bipunctatus (Günther, 1858)
- Coniophanes bipunctatus biseriatus (Smith, 1940)
- Peters' Running Snake, Coniophanes dromiciformis (Peters, 1863) - Ecuador and Peru
- Yellowbelly Snake, Coniophanes fissidens - Mexico, Belize, Guatemala, Honduras, El Salvador, Nicaragua, Costa Rica, Panama, Ecuador, Peru, and Colombia.
- Coniophanes fissidens convergens (Shannon & Smith, 1950)
- Coniophanes fissidens dispersus (Smith, 1941)
- Coniophanes fissidens fissidens (Günther, 1858)
- Coniophanes fissidens proterops (Cope, 1860)
- Coniophanes fissidens punctigularis (Cope, 1860)
- Black-striped Snake, Coniophanes imperialis - United States (Texas), Mexico, Belize, Guatemala, and Honduras.
- Coniophanes imperialis imperialis (Baird, 1859)
- Coniophanes imperialis clavatus (Peters, 1864)
- Coniophanes imperialis copei (Hartweg & Oliver, 1938)
- Coniophanes joanae (Myers, 1966) - Panama
- Stripeless Snake, Coniophanes lateritius - Mexico
- Coniophanes lateritius lateritius (Cope, 1862)
- Coniophanes lateritius melanocephalus (Peters, 1869)
- Coniophanes longinquus (Cadle, 1989) - Peru
- Peninsula Stripeless Snake, Coniophanes meridanus (Schmidt & Andrews, 1936)
- Cope's Black-striped Snake, Coniophanes piceivittis - Mexico, Belize, Honduras, El Salvador, Nicaragua, and Costa Rica.
- Coniophanes piceivittis frangivirgatus (Peters, 1950)
- Coniophanes piceivittis piceivittis (Cope, 1869)
- Coniophanes piceivittis taylori (Hall, 1951)
- Five-striped Snake, Coniophanes quinquevittatus (Duméril, Bibron & Duméril, 1854) - Mexico and Guatemala
- Faded Black-striped Snake, Coniophanes schmidti (Bailey, 1937) - Mexico, Belize, and Guatemala.
[edit] References
