Micrurus

Guedes, Thaís B., Nogueira, Cristiano & Marques, Otavio A. V., 2014, Diversity, natural history, and geographic distribution of snakes in the Caatinga, Northeastern Brazil, Zootaxa 3863 (1), pp. 1-93 : 27

Micrurus sp. ( Merrem, 1820) “Cobra-de-coral, Coral-da-legítima”

(Figs. 11.2 and 23.4)

Caatinga endemic species. It was recorded in all states in the Caatinga, being the most abundant and widespread coral snake in this region. It was called Micrurus ibiboboca by Vanzolini et al. (1980), but they raise the possibility that specimens collected in the semi-arid Caatinga belong to an undescribed new species. It does not fit the original description proposed by Merrem (1820). It is distributed in all phytophysiognomies described for the Caatinga in this work, from sea level to 800 m elevation. It has fossorial habits, is nocturnal and diurnal, and feeds mostly on elongated vertebrates ( Vanzolini et al. 1980; Vitt & Vangilder 1983; Argôlo 2004).