Balanophis

Sri Lanka blossom krait
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Subphylum: Vertebrata
Class: Sauropsida
Subclass: Diapsida
Infraclass: Lepidosauromorpha
Superorder: Lepidosauria
Order: Squamata
Infraorder: Serpentes
Family: Colubridae
Subfamily: Natricinae
Genus: Balanophis
Species: B. ceylonensis
Binomial name
Balanophis ceylonensis
(Günther,1858)

Balanophis is a monotypic genus of the Colubridae family of snakes with the species Balanophis ceylonensis. It is endemic to island of Sri Lanka. The snake is commonly known as Sri Lanka blossom krait, or as Sri Lanka keelback and as මල් කරවලා (Mal Karawala) or නිහලුවා (nihaluwa) in Sinhala. It is a moderately venomous snake.

Destribution

It is a poorly-known snake from wet and some parts of intermediate forests in the lowlands and midhills of Sri Lanka. Nuchal glands extends to anterior level of body.

Scalation

Midbody scale rows 19. Ventrals 131-141. Subcaudals 40-54.

Ecology

It is a slow-moving and when threatened, raised the anterior parts of body to expose the red patch on neck. Diet comprises frogs, while hatchlings are known to eat orthopterans.

Reproduction

Oviparous. About 7 eggs are produced at a time, measuring 19-22 × 9.5-13.2mm. Hatching in March to produce young ones measuring 102mm.

Description

Head distinct from neck, eyes are large with round pupils. Dorsum is olive-brown in color, with black cross-bars that enclose a series of large yellow or red, black-edged spots, and interstitial skin is red.

References

This article is issued from Wikipedia - version of the Thursday, January 28, 2016. The text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share Alike but additional terms may apply for the media files.