Blyth's reticulated snake

Blythia reticulata, commonly known as Blyth's reticulate snake, Blyth's reticulated snake, or the iridescent snake, is a species of snake in the family Colubridae. The species is endemic to Asia.

Blyth's reticulated snake
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Reptilia
Order: Squamata
Suborder: Serpentes
Family: Colubridae
Genus: Blythia
Species:
B. reticulata
Binomial name
Blythia reticulata
(Blyth, 1854)
Synonyms[1][2]
  • Calamaria reticulata
    Blyth, 1854
  • Blythia reticulata
    — Theobald, 1868
  • Aproaspidops antecursorum
    Annandale, 1912
  • Blythia reticulata
    — M.A. Smith, 1943
  • Blythia reticulata
    — Wallach et al., 2014

Etymology

The genus Blythia was named after Edward Blyth (1810–1873), curator of the museum of the Asiatic Society of Bengal, by William Theobald in 1868.[3]

Geographic range

B. reticulata is found in India and parts of Southeast Asia. In India it is found in the states of Arunachal Pradesh, Assam, Manipur,[4] and Meghalaya (Khasi Hills).[1] It is also found in Myanmar (formerly called Burma) and southeastern Tibet (China).[2]

Description

B. reticulata has the following scalation. The rostral scale is about as broad as deep, and is visible from above. The suture between the internasals is one-half to two-thirds as long as that between the prefrontals. The frontal is longer than its distance from the end of the snout, about two-thirds the length of the parietals. One postocular and one elongated temporal scale are present. There are six upper labials, of which the third and fourth enter the eye. The first upper labial is smallest, and the sixth largest. Four lower labials are in contact with the anterior chin shields. The posterior chin shields are small. The dorsal scales are in 13 rows at midbody. The ventral scales are 127–130 in number, and the anal scale is divided. The subcaudals count is 19–29.[5]

This snake is blackish-brown above and below, with the lateral and ventral scales edged with lighter color.[5]

Total length of Blyth's reticulated snake is 16.6 in (420 mm), which includes a tail 1.65 in (42 mm) long.[5]

Taxonomy

The genus Blythia was monotypic for almost 150 years, until a second species, Blythia hmuifang, was described in 2017.[6]

References
  1. Boulenger GA (1893). Catalogue of the Snakes in the British Museum (Natural History), Volume I., Containing the Families ... Colubridæ Aglyphæ, part. London: Trustees of the British Museum (Natural History). (Taylor and Francis, printers). xiii + 448 pp. + Plates I-XXVIII. (Genus Blythia, p. 313; species Blythia reticulata, p. 314).
  2. Blythia reticulata at the Reptarium.cz Reptile Database
  3. Beolens, Bo; Watkins, Michael; Grayson, Michael (2011). The Eponym Dictionary of Reptiles. Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press. xiii + 296 pp. ISBN 978-1-4214-0135-5. (Blythia reticulata, p. 28).
  4. Das 2002.
  5. Boulenger GA (1890). The Fauna of British India, Including Ceylon and Burma. Reptilia and Batrachia. London: Secretary of State for India in Council. (Taylor and Francis, printers). xviii + 541 pp. (Blythia reticulata, pp. 287-288).
  6. Vogel, Gernot; Lalremsanga, Hmar Tlawmte; Vanlalhrima, Vanlalhrima (2017). "A second species of the genus Blythia Theobald, 1868 (Squamata: Colubridae) from Mizoram, India". Zootaxa 4276 (4): 569-581. (Blythia hmuifang, new species).

Further reading
  • Annandale N (1912). "Zoological results of the Abor Expedition, 1911-1912". Rec. Indian Mus., Calcutta 8 (1): 7-59. [Reptilia, pages 37–59] (supplement in same journal, 8 (4): 357-358, 1914). (Aproaspidops antecursorum, new species, p. 46 + Plate V, figures 2, 2a, 2b, 2c).
  • Blyth E (1854). "Notices and descriptions of various reptiles, new or little known [part 2]". J. Asiatic Soc. Bengal, Calcutta 23 (3): 287-302. (Calamaria reticulata, new species, pp. 287–288).
  • Das I (2002). A Photographic Guide to Snakes and other Reptiles of India. Sanibel Island, Florida: Ralph Curtis Books. 144 pp. ISBN 0-88359-056-5. (Blythia reticulata, p. 21).
  • 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.—Serpentes. London: Secretary of State for India. (Taylor and Francis, printers). xii + 583 pp. (Genus Blythia, pp. 338–339; species B. reticulata, pp. 339–340).
  • Theobald W (1868). "Catalogue of Reptiles in the Museum of the Asiatic Society of Bengal". J. Asiatic Soc. Bengal, Calcutta 37 (extra number 146): (2), vi, 7-88. (Blythia, new genus, p. 44; B. reticulata, new combination, pp. 44–45).


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