Bungarus andamanensis Biswas and Sanyal, 1978

Chandramouli, S. R., 2022, Snake fauna of the Andaman Islands, Bay of Bengal-A review of species richness taxonomy, distribution, natural history and conservation status, Zootaxa 5209 (3), pp. 301-331 : 312

publication ID

https://doi.org/ 10.11646/zootaxa.5209.3.1

publication LSID

lsid:zoobank.org:pub:BAB92ED9-AB04-49FE-9453-882CAB65D177

DOI

https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.7329671

persistent identifier

https://treatment.plazi.org/id/039487D5-FFE8-FFAE-5E80-FF1AFE49FD67

treatment provided by

Plazi

scientific name

Bungarus andamanensis Biswas and Sanyal, 1978
status

 

Bungarus andamanensis Biswas and Sanyal, 1978

( Fig. 8A & B View FIGURE 8 , 12C View FIGURE 12 )

Material studied: Four adults, CIARI uncatalogued 1–4, from Sippighat, South Andaman ( Fig.4G View FIGURE 4 ).

Morphology: Dorsal scales smooth, in 15:15:15 rows; vertebral scales hexagonal and enlarged; ventrals 188- 196; subcaudals 42–45, undivided; anal single; supralabials 7, 3–4 entering orbit; infralabials 7, 1–4 touching genials; preocular 1; postoculars 2; loreal absent; temporals 1+2. Dorsum lustrous black with 36–45 pale yellow to creamy white bands all over the body and 8–12 bands on the tail. Hemipenis everted in one specimen; organ short, 6 mm long, of conical shape, longer than broad and not lobed. Distal end much broader than proximal end, with intense flounces towards the tip pointing posteriorly. Sulcus spermaticus visible as a groove ventrally.

Distribution: An endemic species. Several individuals were encountered in a variety of habitats ranging from evergreen forests, secondary forests, and mangrove swamps to human habitations on South Andaman, Havelock, Long Island, Little Andaman, Middle and North Andaman Islands. Often seen near human habitation close to forests and has been seen crossing roads at night. One gravid female was recorded in December.

Status: Common.

Kingdom

Animalia

Phylum

Chordata

Class

Reptilia

Order

Squamata

Family

Elapidae

Genus

Bungarus

GBIF Dataset (for parent article) Darwin Core Archive (for parent article) View in SIBiLS Plain XML RDF