Helicops modestus Günther, 1861

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 : 42

Helicops modestus Günther, 1861 “Cobra-d’água”

(Figs. 15.7 and 28.2)

It was recorded only in the state of Bahia, municipality of Caitité. This area is located in the Chapada Diamantina complex, ca. 970 m elevation. We have only one specimen recorded ( Freitas & Silva 2011) and we believe this species has a restricted distribution confined to high altitude areas. It is also distributed in upland Atlantic Forest and Cerrado ( Marques et al. 2001; Nogueira et al. 2010). It was found in a complex phytophysionomic of dry forest that includes xerophytic phytophysiognomies of the arboreal and bush caatinga and cerrado vegetation (M. A. Freitas pers. comm). It is diurnal and nocturnal, and feeds on frogs and fishes ( Scartozzoni 2009).