Coelognathus helena monticollaris explained

Coelognathus helena monticollaris is subspecies of nonvenomous constricting snake in the family Colubridae. The subspecies is native to the Western ghats of India.

Description

C. h. monticollaris is a narrow-headed slender snake with a beautiful colouration. The light brown body is adorned with black and white transverse stripes, unlike C. h. helena which has dark brown and white spots. The head is greenish brown with black markings. The true purpose of this colouration is camouflage. Recently, albinism has been reported in this subspecies.^[1]

Habitat

The preferred habitat of C. h. monticollaris is forests, but it may frequently venture towards human habitation and occasionally enter human dwellings.

Behaviour

C. h. monticollaris is diurnal and highly active. It has a very nasty temper and will strike repeatedly if molested. It never appreciates captivity and will resist capture with utmost tenacity until helplessly overpowered. Its bites are often very damaging due to its inward pointing teeth.

A 1m (03feet) male specimen caught in Maharashtra, India (near Paud 09/16/13) whipped its tail when agitated. The same specimen was easily handled and carried around the collector's neck without incident.

Diet

C. h. monticollaris feeds mainly on small mammals. It uses its camouflage to stalk its prey and initially disorients its victim with a blitz strike. It then surrounds its prey with its coils and weakens it by biting repeatedly. The victim is finally killed by constriction and swallowed at leisure. It may also prey upon birds, frogs, lizards and other snakes as well, but shows a high preference towards small mammals. It is notorious for its voracious appetite. Captive specimens prefer mice and tend to lose interest in lizards especially if the lizards remain motionless.

Breeding

Very little known about the reproductive habits of C. h. monticollaris. It is probably viviparous. Brood size unknown.

Growth

The smallest known specimens of C. h. monticollaris measure around 350mm in total length (including tail). The average adult total length is around 1m (03feet), and the maximum is 1.5m (04.9feet). Females are longer than the males, while males have proportionately longer tails.

Venom

C. h. monticollaris is nonvenomous. It kills instead by constriction.^[2]

Identification

C. h. monticollaris may be identified by the following key characters:

• Nine supralabials of which the fifth and sixth touch the eye.
• 19 to 21 rows of dorsal scales two head lengths before the vent.
• Anal shield entire
• Nearly equally sized frontal and parietal shields.

Lepidosis

• Rostral

Compressed and touches six shields.

• Frontal

Relatively thin and elongated.

• Supraoculars

Slender and elongated being nearly as long as the frontal.

• Parietals: Each individual shield is slightly larger than the frontal.
• Prefrontals

Highly broad as well as long.

• Internasals

Touch the nostrils.

• Nasals

Divided along a vertical line on which the nostril is situated.

• Loreals

One

• Preoculars: One
• Postoculars: Divided into two equally sized shields
• Temporals

Divided into two equally sized elongated shields.

• Supralabials: Nine of which the fifth and sixth touch the eye.
• Mental

Stereotypic in form.

• Infralabials: Six of which the sixth is the largest.
• Chin shields

Anterior and posterior pairs equal in size, posterior pair separated from each other by smaller scales.

• Dorsal scales: Only the ultimate row is enlarged.
• Ventrals

217 to 265

• Anal Shield: Entire
• Subcaudals

74 to 97, divided.

Dentition

• Maxillary: 19 to 25
• Palatine

10 to 14

• Pterygoid

15 to 30

• Mandibular

22 to 30

Geographic range

C. h. monticollaris is found in the Western Ghats of India.^[3] reported from Maharashtra, Goa, Karnataka, Kerala and Tamil Nadu.

Further reading

• Das I (2002). A Photographic Guide to Snakes and other Reptiles of India. Sanibel Island, Florida: Ralph Curtis Books. 144 pp. . (Coelognathus helena monticollaris, p. 32).
• Schulz, Klaus-Dieter (1992). "Die geographischen Unterarten der Indischen Schmucknatter Elaphe helena (Daudin, 1803) ". Salamandra 28 (1): 14–24. (Elaphe helena monticollaris, new subspecies). (in German).

Notes and References

1. Pawar, Ravi. Tayade, Rahul. Gaikwad, Akshay. 2017. First record of albinism in montane trinket snake Coelognathus helena monticollaris (Schulz, 1992). Cobra. 9. 2. 27–30. 2017-08-30. https://web.archive.org/web/20170902043208/https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/b/bf/First_record_of_albinism_in_montane_trinket_snake_Coelognathus_helena_monticollaris_2017_Pawar_Ravi%2C_Tayde_Rahul_and_Gaikwad_Akshay.pdf. 2017-09-02. dead.
2. Book: Whitaker, Romulus. Romulus Whitaker

   . Romulus Whitaker. Captain. Ashok. Ashok Captain. 2004. Snakes of India: The Field Guide. Draco Books. 495 pp. Chennai, India. 81-901873-0-9.

3. Das (2002).