''Protobothrops flavoviridis'' is a species of

venomous Venom or zootoxin is a type of toxin produced by an animal that is actively delivered through a wound by means of a bite, sting, or similar action. The toxin is delivered through a specially evolved ''venom apparatus'', such as fangs or a sti ...

pit viper The Crotalinae, commonly known as pit vipers,Mehrtens JM (1987). ''Living Snakes of the World in Color''. New York: Sterling Publishers. 480 pp. . crotaline snakes (from grc, κρόταλον ''krotalon'' castanet), or pit adders, are a subfa ...

endemic Endemism is the state of a species being found in a single defined geographic location, such as an island, state, nation, country or other defined zone; organisms that are indigenous to a place are not endemic to it if they are also found elsew ...

to the

Ryukyu Islands The , also known as the or the , are a chain of Japanese islands that stretch southwest from Kyushu to Taiwan: the Ōsumi, Tokara, Amami, Okinawa, and Sakishima Islands (further divided into the Miyako and Yaeyama Islands), with Yonaguni ...

Japan Japan ( ja, 日本, or , and formally , ''Nihonkoku'') is an island country in East Asia. It is situated in the northwest Pacific Ocean, and is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan, while extending from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north ...

. No subspecies are currently recognized. Local common names include habu,Gumprecht A, Tillack F, ,

Captain A Captain is a title, an appellative for the commanding officer of a military unit; the supreme leader of a navy ship, merchant ship, aeroplane, spacecraft, or other vessel; or the commander of a port, fire or police department, election precinct, e ...

, Ryabov S. 2004. ''Asian Pitvipers''. GeitjeBooks. Berlin. 1st Edition. 368 pp. . Okinawa habu,U.S. Navy. 1991. ''Poisonous Snakes of the World''. US Govt. New York: Dover Publications Inc. 203 pp. . and Kume Shima habu.Mehrtens JM. 1987. ''Living Snakes of the World in Color''. New York: Sterling Publishers. 480 pp. .''

Description

Growing to an average total length of , with a maximum of , this is the largest member of its genus. It is slenderly built and gracefully proportioned with a large head. The crown of the head is covered with small scales. ''P. flavorviridis'' has a light olive or brown ground color, overlaid with elongated dark green or brownish blotches. The blotches have yellow edges, sometimes contain yellow spots, and frequently fuse to produce wavy stripes. The belly is whitish with dark coloring along the edges.

Distribution and habitat

''Protobothrops flavoviridis'' is restricted to the Japanese

, including

Okinawa is a prefecture of Japan. Okinawa Prefecture is the southernmost and westernmost prefecture of Japan, has a population of 1,457,162 (as of 2 February 2020) and a geographic area of 2,281 km2 (880 sq mi). Naha is the capital and largest city ...

and the

Amami Islands The The name ''Amami-guntō'' was standardized on February 15, 2010. Prior to that, another name, ''Amami shotō'' (奄美諸島), was also used. is an archipelago in the Satsunan Islands, which is part of the Ryukyu Islands, and is southwest o ...

. The type locality is "Amakarima Island (one of the Loo-Choo group)" (= Keramashima, Ryukyu Islands). It is common on the larger

volcanic A volcano is a rupture in the crust of a planetary-mass object, such as Earth, that allows hot lava, volcanic ash, and gases to escape from a magma chamber below the surface. On Earth, volcanoes are most often found where tectonic plates a ...

islands, but not present on the smaller

coral Corals are marine invertebrates within the class Anthozoa of the phylum Cnidaria. They typically form compact colonies of many identical individual polyps. Coral species include the important reef builders that inhabit tropical oceans and sec ...

islands. The species is often reported from the transition zone between

palm Palm most commonly refers to: * Palm of the hand, the central region of the front of the hand * Palm plants, of family Arecaceae **List of Arecaceae genera * Several other plants known as "palm" Palm or Palms may also refer to: Music * Palm (ba ...

forest A forest is an area of land dominated by trees. Hundreds of definitions of forest are used throughout the world, incorporating factors such as tree density, tree height, land use, legal standing, and ecological function. The United Nations' ...

and cultivated fields. It may also be found on rock walls and in old tombs and caves.

Ecology

The species is

terrestrial Terrestrial refers to things related to land or the planet Earth. Terrestrial may also refer to: * Terrestrial animal, an animal that lives on land opposed to living in water, or sometimes an animal that lives on or near the ground, as opposed to ...

and mostly

nocturnal Nocturnality is an animal behavior characterized by being active during the night and sleeping during the day. The common adjective is "nocturnal", versus diurnal meaning the opposite. Nocturnal creatures generally have highly developed sens ...

. It often enters homes and other structures in search of rats and mice. Bold and irritable, it can strike quickly and has a long reach. Unlike most

pitvipers The Crotalinae, commonly known as pit vipers,Mehrtens JM (1987). ''Living Snakes of the World in Color''. New York: Sterling Publishers. 480 pp. . crotaline snakes (from grc, κρόταλον ''krotalon'' castanet), or pit adders, are a subfa ...

, ''P. flavoviridis'' is

oviparous Oviparous animals are animals that lay their eggs, with little or no other embryonic development within the mother. This is the reproductive method of most fish, amphibians, most reptiles, and all pterosaurs, dinosaurs (including birds), and ...

and lays eggs, rather than bearing live young. Mating takes place in early spring and up to 18 eggs are laid in mid-summer. The hatchlings, which emerge after an incubation period of 5–6 weeks, are in length and look the same as the adults. To reduce the population of ''P. flavoviridis'' on the island of

, the

small Asian mongoose Small Asian mongoose is a common name applied to two mammals which were formerly considered to be a single species: * Javan mongoose *Small Indian mongoose The small Indian mongoose (''Urva auropunctata'') is a mongoose species native to Iraq an ...

(''Herpestes javanicus''), was introduced in 1910. Although the effects of this introduction have not been studied, in other such cases the negative effects on species of native

bird Birds are a group of warm-blooded vertebrates constituting the class Aves (), characterised by feathers, toothless beaked jaws, the laying of hard-shelled eggs, a high metabolic rate, a four-chambered heart, and a strong yet lightweigh ...

mammal Mammals () are a group of vertebrate animals constituting the class Mammalia (), characterized by the presence of mammary glands which in females produce milk for feeding (nursing) their young, a neocortex (a region of the brain), fur or ...

s, and

herpetofauna Herpetology (from Greek ἑρπετόν ''herpetón'', meaning "reptile" or "creeping animal") is the branch of zoology concerned with the study of amphibians (including frogs, toads, salamanders, newts, and caecilians (gymnophiona)) and rept ...

have been a source of concern for wildlife managers.

Venom

The incidence of snakebite in the

is 2 per 1,000 people, which is considered very high. The venom of this species is of high toxicity, containing cytotoxin and haemorrhagin components, yet the fatality rate is less than 1%. A bite from a habu snake can cause nausea, vomiting, hypotension, and possibly death. There have been cases where victims report the loss of motor function in hands and legs following treatment."An experimental study of emergency care for habu bites : estimation of amount of venom removed by suction". Ryukyu Medical Association. 5 (3): 196–200. 1982. If a bite victim receives medical care promptly, bites are not life-threatening. However, 6-8% do suffer permanent disability. values of 3.1, 4.3, 3.7, 2.7, 3.7, 3.8 mg/kg IV, 5.1 mg/kg IP and 6.0, 3.5-5.0, 4.5 mg/kg SC have been reported for the venom.

Exploitation

On the island of Okinawa, this species is heavily collected, primarily for use in

habushu is an ''awamori''-based liqueur made in Okinawa, Japan. Other common names include Habu Sake or Okinawan Snake Wine. Habushu is named after the habu snake, ''Trimeresurus flavoviridis'', which belongs to the pit viper family and is closely re ...

(ハブ酒). In this case, the sake is a

liquor Liquor (or a spirit) is an alcoholic drink produced by distillation of grains, fruits, vegetables, or sugar, that have already gone through alcoholic fermentation. Other terms for liquor include: spirit drink, distilled beverage or hard ...

called

awamori ''Awamori'' (, Okinawan: , āmui'') is an alcoholic beverage indigenous and unique to Okinawa, Japan. It is made from long grain indica rice, and is not a direct product of brewing (like ''sake'') but of distillation (like ''shōchū''). The ...

(泡盛), alleged to have medicinal properties. As is typical with

snake wine Snake wine (; vi, rượu rắn; km, ស្រាពស់, ) is an alcoholic beverage produced by infusing whole snakes in rice wine or grain alcohol. The drink was first recorded to have been consumed in China during the Western Zhou dynasty ...

, the snakes may be inserted into the container while still alive, causing them to drown, or the snake may be stunned first and gutted while still alive. The production includes the body in the fermentation process and it is sold in bottles that may or may not retain the body of a snake (or other animals such as lizards or scorpions).

References

External links

* {{Authority control flavoviridis Snakes of Asia Endemic reptiles of Japan Reptiles described in 1861 Taxa named by Edward Hallowell (herpetologist) Endemic fauna of the Ryukyu Islands