Calliophis melanurus
—
Slender Coral Snake
Also known as:
Indian Coral Snake
Subspecies I've seen:
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C. m. sinhaleyus
Sri Lanka Coral Snake
Calliophis melanurus sinhaleyus
—
Sri Lanka Coral Snake
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
Like all coral snakes, this little guy packs some dangerously potent venom. But it was so small and thin with such a tiny little mouth that we gigantic mammals had no danger of being bitten. This snake was five inches long on a good day, and considerably thinner than a shoelace. We laughed at it.
Online references:
- Calliophis melanurus account on The Reptile Database
- Calliophis melanurus sinhaleyus account on iNaturalist
Printed references:
- de Silva, A., Ukuwela, K. 2017. A Naturalist's Guide to the Reptiles of Sri Lanka