Sibynophis chinensis chinensis

Asiatic Many-Toothed Snake

黑 頭蛇

保育等級: 非保育類

無毒

鄉野調查
家族
黃頜蛇科、Sibynophinae 亞科。
Colubridae, subfamily Sibynophinae
最大體長
72 cm
台灣棲地分布
台灣全島海拔500-1500公尺地帶。並不常見。
世界棲地分布
北 越南,中/南 中國(江蘇,浙江,福建,廣東,廣西,海南,湖南,湖北,四川,安徽,甘肅,江西,江蘇,河南,山西,陝西),台灣。
外觀描述
Small snake; total length up to 72 cm. There are 17 rows of body scales, which are smooth and iridescent. Head is slightly triangular; body is slender; tail is long. Eye is medium to small; iris is dark, black dappled on dirty yellow, pupil is jet black, round, circled with distinct orange red band. Tongue is dark, stem mottled. Upper head is grey to dark brown, with two small black markings. There is a black collar on the nape bordered posteriorly by a stripe of cream to tan. Rostral and supralabials are prominently marked with white stripes or spots, partly bordered by black. Upper body is gray brown to brown with 3 indistinct longitudinal stripes of diffuse black or white pigment; the mid-dorsal stripe is widest but becomes less distinct posteriorly. Ventral head is dirty white mottled with coarse diffuse black or brown pigment. Ventral body is whitish to yellow green, with scattered flecks of black anteriorly. The brown of upper body extends onto outer quarter or fifth of ventral scales. Areas of black pigment at each side of the ventral form a longitudinal line which extends onto tail. Anal scale is divided and subcaudals are paired.
生態描述
黑頭蛇是溫馴的蛇類。牠行動快速通常在白天出沒,喜歡棲息在山地森林與農用開墾地附近。以捕食蛙、蜥蜴、蛇維生。母蛇於夏季產卵,每次產下一窩 2 - 6 枚,每枚大小 3 - 3.7cm x 1.3 - 1.5cm 的卵。
愛吃小型蜥蜴的蛇中,那些在 "Sibynophis" 屬底下的蛇,上頜骨兩側的上頜牙齒可以牢牢的垂直鎖定住要逃跑的蜥蜴。
學名與俗名
Sibynophis: sibyna 在古希臘有狩獵長矛的意思,在這裡指的是蛇的牙齒; ophis 則是"蛇"的意思;
chinensis 是拉丁文"來自中國的"。
黑頭蛇、黑頭劍蛇。
相關連結
翻譯:周信甫