''Calliophis bivirgatus'' is a species of

snake Snakes are elongated, Limbless vertebrate, limbless, carnivore, carnivorous reptiles of the suborder Serpentes . Like all other Squamata, squamates, snakes are ectothermic, amniote vertebrates covered in overlapping Scale (zoology), scales. Ma ...

in the family

Elapidae Elapidae (, commonly known as elapids ; grc, ἔλλοψ ''éllops'' "sea-fish") is a family of snakes characterized by their permanently erect fangs at the front of the mouth. Most elapids are venomous, with the exception of the genus Emydoceph ...

known commonly as the blue coral snake or blue Malayan coral snake.''Calliophis bivirgatus''.
Ecologyasia. 2016.''Calliophis bivirgata''.
Reptile Database. It is native to

Southeast Asia Southeast Asia, also spelled South East Asia and South-East Asia, and also known as Southeastern Asia, South-eastern Asia or SEA, is the geographical United Nations geoscheme for Asia#South-eastern Asia, south-eastern region of Asia, consistin ...

Geographic range and distribution

This terrestrial snake occurs in

Brunei Brunei ( , ), formally Brunei Darussalam ( ms, Negara Brunei Darussalam, Jawi alphabet, Jawi: , ), is a country located on the north coast of the island of Borneo in Southeast Asia. Apart from its South China Sea coast, it is completely sur ...

Indonesia Indonesia, officially the Republic of Indonesia, is a country in Southeast Asia and Oceania between the Indian and Pacific oceans. It consists of over 17,000 islands, including Sumatra, Java, Sulawesi, and parts of Borneo and New Guine ...

Malaysia Malaysia ( ; ) is a country in Southeast Asia. The federation, federal constitutional monarchy consists of States and federal territories of Malaysia, thirteen states and three federal territories, separated by the South China Sea into two r ...

Singapore Singapore (), officially the Republic of Singapore, is a sovereign island country and city-state in maritime Southeast Asia. It lies about one degree of latitude () north of the equator, off the southern tip of the Malay Peninsula, borde ...

Thailand Thailand ( ), historically known as Siam () and officially the Kingdom of Thailand, is a country in Southeast Asia, located at the centre of the Indochinese Peninsula, spanning , with a population of almost 70 million. The country is bo ...

, and

Burma Myanmar, ; UK pronunciations: US pronunciations incl. . Note: Wikipedia's IPA conventions require indicating /r/ even in British English although only some British English speakers pronounce r at the end of syllables. As John Wells explai ...

. It lives at in elevation. There are three subspecies: *''C. b. bivirgatus'' – Indonesia *''C. b. flaviceps'' – Indonesia, Malaysia, Thailand, Singapore, Burma *''C. b. tetrataenia'' – Indonesia, Malaysia, Brunei

Description

This species was assigned to the new world coral snake genus ''

Maticora ''Calliophis'' is a genus of venomous snake, venomous elapid snakes, one of several known commonly as oriental coral snakes or Asian coral snakes. Species Species in this genus are: * ''Calliophis beddomei'' (Malcolm Arthur Smith, M.A. Smith, 1 ...

'' until phylogenetic studies revealed this species to be nested within the tropical coral snake species clade ''

Calliophis ''Calliophis'' is a genus of venomous elapid snakes, one of several known commonly as oriental coral snakes or Asian coral snakes. Species Species in this genus are: * ''Calliophis beddomei'' ( M.A. Smith, 1943) – Beddome's coral snake (I ...

'' and sister species to ''

Calliophis intestinalis ''Calliophis intestinalis'', commonly known as the banded Malayan coral snake, is a species of venomous elapid snake endemic to Southeast Asia. Geographic range ''C. intestinalis'' is found in Borneo, Indonesia, Java, and Malaysia. Venom This ...

'', the banded Malaysian coral snake.J. B. Slowinski, J. Boundy and R. Lawson. 2001
The phylogenetic relationships of Asian coral snakes (Elapidae: ''Calliophis'' and ''Maticora'') based on morphological and molecular characters.
''Herpetologica'' 57(2) 233-245 This is a medium-sized coral snake with a slender body. The adult can reach long. It has a red head, tail and belly. The back is dark blue to black in color, and it usually has a large blue or white stripe on each flank.
Livescience. 16 December 2014. The snake, especially when juvenile, is often confused with the pink-headed reed snake (''Calamaria schlegeli'') as they share similar habitat and appearance. But the latter is much smaller, reaching a maximum length of . The reed snake is nonvenomous, while the coral snake is potentially lethal. They also are very similar to another venomous snake, the red-headed krait (''

Bungarus flaviceps The red-headed krait (''Bungarus flaviceps'') is a large venomous elapid snake with dramatic animal coloration, coloration. The red-headed krait can grow to a length of up to . It lives in lowland rain forest, including those on islands, but it i ...

'').

Biology

This uncommon snake is considered semi-

fossorial A fossorial () animal is one adapted to digging which lives primarily, but not solely, underground. Some examples are badgers, naked mole-rats, clams, meerkats, and mole salamanders, as well as many beetles, wasps, and bees. Prehistoric eviden ...

and is found in the leaf litter of

primary Primary or primaries may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Music Groups and labels * Primary (band), from Australia * Primary (musician), hip hop musician and record producer from South Korea * Primary Music, Israeli record label Works * ...

and

secondary forest A secondary forest (or second-growth forest) is a forest or woodland area which has re-grown after a timber harvest or clearing for agriculture, until a long enough period has passed so that the effects of the disturbance are no longer evident. ...

s. It preys on other snakes. When threatened it usually flees, but it may remain in place with its red tail erect as a defensive message.

Venom

Blue coral snake venom has only occasionally caused human deaths.Tan, C. H., et al. (2015)
Unveiling the elusive and exotic: Venomics of the Malayan blue coral snake (''Calliophis bivirgata flaviceps'').
''Journal of Proteomics'' 132, 1. This species has unusually long venom glands, extending to 25% of the length of the body. Unlike other snakes of the family Elapidae, its venom does not contain a

neurotoxin Neurotoxins are toxins that are destructive to nerve tissue (causing neurotoxicity). Neurotoxins are an extensive class of exogenous chemical neurological insultsSpencer 2000 that can adversely affect function in both developing and mature ner ...

. The toxic element is instead a unique

cytotoxin Cytotoxicity is the quality of being toxic to cells. Examples of toxic agents are an immune cell or some types of venom, e.g. from the puff adder (''Bitis arietans'') or brown recluse spider (''Loxosceles reclusa''). Cell physiology Treating c ...

called calliotoxin that causes near instantaneous paralysis by blocking the victims sodium channels. The venom also contains

phosphodiesterase A phosphodiesterase (PDE) is an enzyme that breaks a phosphodiester bond. Usually, ''phosphodiesterase'' refers to cyclic nucleotide phosphodiesterases, which have great clinical significance and are described below. However, there are many oth ...

s, which promote the release of

adenosine Adenosine ( symbol A) is an organic compound that occurs widely in nature in the form of diverse derivatives. The molecule consists of an adenine attached to a ribose via a β-N9-glycosidic bond. Adenosine is one of the four nucleoside building ...

, causing in turn

hypotension Hypotension is low blood pressure. Blood pressure is the force of blood pushing against the walls of the arteries as the heart pumps out blood. Blood pressure is indicated by two numbers, the systolic blood pressure (the top number) and the dias ...

, inflammation, and

neurotransmitter A neurotransmitter is a signaling molecule secreted by a neuron to affect another cell across a synapse. The cell receiving the signal, any main body part or target cell, may be another neuron, but could also be a gland or muscle cell. Neuro ...

blockade in prey items and other bite victims. This ability is especially important as their prey consists mostly of other venomous snakes. There is no known antidote, though there is hope that the venom may eventually prove useful in the management of chronic pain in humans.

Geographic range and distribution

Description

Biology

Venom

See also

References

Further reading