Coral Snakes

Southeast Asia Snakes

Snakes ~ Coral Snakes

Coral snakes are highly venomous members of the Elapidae family that are found in all elevations of rainforest in Southeast Asia. Their venom glands have been reported to extend all the way through the body, even reaching near the tail end in some species. They are distributed widely through Thailand, Malaysia, Singapore, Indonesia and Borneo but are not often seen due to their nocturnal and semi-fossorial nature. They will burry themselves under leaf litter, or forest debris, venturing out to hunt for prey during the night.

Coral snakes feed purely on semi-fossorial snakes in the wild, though they have been reported to feed on water snakes in captivity. Calliophis intestinalis has been reported to feed on earth worms in captivity with varying levels of success. These snakes share a common behavioural trait; when molested or threatened, coral snakes will flatten their body and roll over their tail, sometimes in a spiral, to display the bright red tip of their ventrals.

The blue coral snake or Calliophis bivirgata flaviceps is an uncommon species that occurs more often in mid to upper-level rainforest. It has a dark colouration with intense broad blue lateral stripes, followed by a black ventrolateral line. The ventrals are red, which is a key characteristic that differentiates it from the red headed krait Bungarus flaviceps. The entire head, including the top, cheeks and jaws are bright red along with the tail tip. The eyes are dark and almost opaque.

The banded coral snake, or Calliophis intestinalis lineata, is a more common species found in lowland to mid-level rainforest. This tiny coral snake does not usually grow thicker than a pencil, and can be occassionally be found in plantations and crossing roads. Bites have been reported from this species before with serious neurotoxic effects; care must be taken when dealing with this species in spite of its tiny size.

In Calliophis intestinalis lineata, an orange vertebral stripe, flanked by two thinner black lines, runs from the frontal scale till the tip of the tail. The tail is bright red underneath, with a thin black band in the middle. The body surface and flanks range from being brownish orange to greenish grey. The ventrals are neatly patterned with black and white bands while the body is brownish. This species lays anything from one to four eggs, which hatch in about two months.

An undescribed form of Calliophis intestinalis is recorded from Cameron Highlands in Malaysia which differs from Calliophis intestinalis lineata by having; a dark vertebral stripe instead of orange; upper surface greyish blue; ventrals that are neatly patterned with red instead of white bands; and slightly bigger maximum size. This undescribed species has also been recorded from Sumatra.

Otherwise, it shares a similiar ecology to the banded coral snake, with the exception of this species being found only in high elevations of montane rainforest. The author records the lowest elevation of captured specimens at 1, 400 meters, though more research is needed to ascertain this figure. Expect this form to be described in future as a new species.