Erythrolamprus ocellatus

Erythrolamprus ocellatus, commonly known as the Tobago false coral snake, red snake, or doctor snake is a species of colubrid snake, which is endemic to the island of Tobago (in the Republic of Trinidad and Tobago).[3]

Erythrolamprus ocellatus
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Reptilia
Order: Squamata
Suborder: Serpentes
Family: Colubridae
Genus: Erythrolamprus
Species:
E. ocellatus
Binomial name
Erythrolamprus ocellatus
W. Peters, 1868
Synonyms
  • Erythrolamprus aesculapii ocellatus Peters, 1868[2]

Description

Unlike other Erythrolamprus species, E. ocellatus is not sympatric with coral snakes and has a spotted rather than a banded pattern.[3]

Dorsally, it is reddish (with black scale tips), and has a series of about 25 large ocelli (round black spots with light centers) running down the middle of the back. This is considered to bean imperfect mimic of a coral snake (there are no extant species of coral snakes in Tobago.[4]) The dorsal surfaces of the head and neck are black, and the tail is ringed with black.[5]

Geographic Range, Habitat and Activity

The species is a Tobago endemic, known only from the wetter northeastern and central parts of the island. It utilizes leaf-litter and is perhaps also fossorial in rainforest, forest edge and cacao plantation habitats. It seems to be most active in the early morning and late afternoon.

Diet

It probably feeds on other snakes.[3] They also feed on the microteiid lizards in the genus Bachia, the rain frog Pristimantis urichi, the túngara frog (also known as Central American mud-puddle frog) Engystomops pustulosus, and the gecko Gonatodes vittatus (in captivity), and unidentified fish. [6]

References
  1. Murphy, J. 2016. Erythrolamprus ocellatus. The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species 2016: e.T203512A115350272. https://www.iucnredlist.org/species/203512/115350272 Downloaded on 02 October 2018.
  2. The Reptile Database. www.reptile-database.org.
  3. Boos, Hans E.A. (2001). The Snakes of Trinidad and Tobago. Texas A&M University Press. College Station, Texas. xvi + 328 pp. ISBN 1-58544-116-3.
  4. John C. Murphy, 2019
  5. Boulenger, G.A. 1896. Catalogue of the Snakes in the British Museum (Natural History). Volume III., Containing the Colubridæ Aglyphæ (Opisthoglyphæ and Proteroglyphæ),... Trustees of the British Museum (Natural History). (Taylor and Francis, Printers.) London. xiv + 727 pp. + Plates I.- XXV. ("E. ocellatus, Peters", p. 204.)
  6. John C. Murphy 2019

Further reading
  • Emsley, M.G. 1966. The Status of the Snake Erythrolamprus ocellatus Peters. Copeia 1966 (1): 128–129.
  • Murphy, John C. 1997. Amphibians and Reptiles of Trinidad and Tobago. Krieger. Malabar, Florida. 245 pp. ISBN 978-0894649714.
  • Peters, W. 1868. Über neue Säugethiere (Colobus, Rhinolophus, Vesperus) und neue oder weniger bekannte Amphibien (Hemidactylus, Herpetodryas, Spilotes, Elaphis, Lamprophis, Erythrolamprus). Monatsberichte der Königlich-Preussischen Akademie der Wissenschaften zu Berlin 1868: 637–642. ("Erythrolamprus ocellatus n. sp.", p. 642.)
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