Calliophis is a genus of elapid snakes, one of several known commonly as oriental coral snakes or Asian coral snakes.
Species
Species in this genus are:
- Calliophis beddomei <small>(M.A. Smith, 1943)</small> – Beddome's coral snake (India)
- Calliophis bibroni <small>(Jan, 1858)</small> – Bibron's coral snake (India)
- Calliophis bilineatus <small>(Peters, 1881)</small> – Two-stripped coral snake (Philippines)
- Calliophis bivirgatus <small>(F. Boie, 1827)</small> – Blue Malaysian coral snake (Indonesia, Cambodia, Malaysia, Singapore, Thailand)
- Calliophis castoe <small>E.N. Smith, Ogale, Deepak & Giri, 2012</small> – CastoeâÂÂs coral snake (India)
- Calliophis gracilis <small>Gray, 1835</small> – Spotted coral snake (Thailand, Malaysia, Indonesia, Singapore)
- Calliophis haematoetron <small>E.N. Smith, Manamendra-Arachchi & Somweera, 2008</small> – Blood-bellied coral snake (Sri Lanka)
- Calliophis intestinalis <small>(Laurenti, 1768)</small> – Banded Malaysian coral snake (Indonesia, Malaysia)
- Calliophis maculiceps <small>(Günther, 1858)</small> – Speckled coral snake (Myanmar, Thailand, Malaysia, Vietnam, Cambodia, Laos)
- Calliophis melanurus <small>(Shaw, 1802)</small> – Slender coral snake, Indian coral snake (India, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka)
- Calliophis nigrescens <small>(Günther, 1862)</small> – Black coral snake (India)
- Calliophis nigrotaeniatus <small>(Peters, 1863)</small> – banded Malaysian coral snake, striped coral snake (Indonesia, Malaysia )
- Calliophis philippinus <small>(Günther, 1864)</small> – Philippine coral snake (the Philippines)
- Calliophis salitan <small>Brown, Smart, Leviton, & Smith, 2018</small> – Dinagat Island banded coral snake (the Philippines)
- Calliophis suluensis <small>(Steindachner, 1891)</small> – Sulu Islands banded coral snake (the Philippines)
Nota bene: A binomial authority in parentheses indicates that the species was originally described in a genus other than Calliophis.
Taxonomy
The former Calliophis calligaster, the barred coral snake (Philippines), is now in the genus Hemibungarus.
Both Kellogg's coral snake (formerly C. kelloggi ) (Vietnam, Laos, China) and MacClelland's coral snake (formerly C. macclellandi ) are now in the genus Sinomicrurus.
Behaviour
Snakes of the genus Calliophis are semifossorial.
References
Further reading
- Boulenger GA. 1896. Catalogue of the Snakes in the British Museum (Natural History). Volume III., Containing the Colubridæ (Opisthoglyphæ and Proteroglyphæ), ... London: Trustees of the British Museum (Natural History). (Taylor and Francis, printers). xiv + 727 pp. + Plates I-XXV. (Genus Callophis [sic], p. 396).
- Gray JE. 1834. Illustrations of Indian Zoology; Chiefly Selected from the Collection of Major-General Hardwicke, F.R.S., ... Vol. II. London: Adolphus Richter and Co. 102 plates. (Calliophis gracilis, Plate 86, Figures 1 & 3).
- Smith MA. 1943. The Fauna of British India, Ceylon and Burma, Including the Whole of the Indo-Chinese Sub-region. Reptilia and Amphibia. Vol. III.âÂÂSerpentes. London: Secretary of State for India. (Taylor and Francis, printers). xii + 583 pp. (Genus Callophis [sic], pp. 418âÂÂ419).