Protobothrops elegans explained

Protobothrops elegans is a venomous pitviper species endemic to Japan in the southern Ryukyu Islands. No subspecies are currently recognized. Common names include: elegant pitviper,^[1],^[2] and elegant tree viper.^[3]

Description

Scalation includes 25 (sometimes 23) rows of dorsal scales at midbody, 179–192 (males) or 182–196 (females) ventral scales, 63–90 subcaudal scales, and 8 (sometimes 7 or 9) supralabial scales.^[1]

During 1965–2011, 2447 snakebites from this snake are reported with one fatality.^[4]

Geographic range

It is found in Japan in the southern Ryukyu Islands, specifically in the Yaeyama Islands. The type locality is unknown. Boulenger listed it as "---- ?" while Gray's original 1849 description gives "West Coast of [North?] America." A restriction to "Ishigaki-Shima [Ryukyu Islands, Japan]" was proposed by Stejneger (1907).

See also

• Snakebite

Further reading

• Gray, J.E. 1849. Catalogue of the Specimens of Snakes in the Collection of the British Museum. Trustees of the British Museum. London. xv + 125 pp. (Craspedocephalus elegans, p. 7.)

Notes and References

1. Gumprecht A, Tillack F, Orlov NL, Captain A, Ryabov S. 2004. Asian Pitvipers. GeitjeBooks. Berlin. 1st Edition. 368 pp. .
2. Mehrtens JM. 1987. Living Snakes of the World in Color. New York: Sterling Publishers. 480 pp. .
3. Brown JH. 1973. Toxicology and Pharmacology of Venoms from Poisonous Snakes. Springfield, Illinois: Charles C. Thomas. 184 pp. LCCCN 73-229. .
4. Web site: Seiko Matsuda . ja:沖縄県における平成23 年の毒蛇咬症 . ja . 2011 Venomous Snakebite in Okinawa Prefecture . Okinawa Prefectural Institute of Health and Environment, Hygiene Science Group Eiko Maho . http://www.eikanken-okinawa.jp/seitaiG/habu/houkokusyo/H23houkoku.pdf . 2013-03-11 . dead . https://web.archive.org/web/20130502171348/http://www.eikanken-okinawa.jp/seitaiG/habu/houkokusyo/H23houkoku.pdf . 2013-05-02 .