Trimeresurus sabahi explained

Trimeresurus sabahi, commonly known as the Sabah pit viper or Sabah bamboo pitviper,^[1] is a venomous pitviper species. If defined narrowly, it is endemic to the island of Borneo. If defined more broadly, it consists of five subspecies found in Southeast Asia.

Subspecies

There are five subspecies:

• Trimeresurus sabahi barati Regenass & Kramer, 1981 – Sumatra, Mentawai Archipelago (Indonesia)
• Trimeresurus sabahi buniana , Grismer & McGuire, 2006 – Tioman Island (Malaysia)
• Trimeresurus sabahi fucatus Vogel, David &, 2004 – Malay Peninsula (southern Myanmar, Thailand, West Malaysia)

• Trimeresurus sabahi sabahi Regenass & Kramer, 1981 – northern Borneo (Malaysia)
• Trimeresurus sabahi toba David, Petri, Vogel & Doria, 2009 – Sumatra

IUCN treats these as full species, respectively Trimeresurus barati,^[2] Trimeresurus buniana,^[3] Trimeresurus fucatus,^[4] and Trimeresurus toba,^[5] restricting Trimeresurus sabahi to the nominotypical subspecies.

Description

Adults may attain a snout-vent length (SVL) of 62cm (24inches).^[6]

Dorsally, it is uniform green, without crossbars. Ventrally it is pale green. There is narrow bicolor stripe on the first one and a half dorsal scale rows. In males this stripe is rust-colored or red below, and it is white above. In females it is yellow or white. The iris of the eye is red or orange in adults of both sexes, but in young specimens may be yellowish-green. There are no markings behind the eye.^[6]

The scalation includes 21 (23) rows of dorsal scales at midbody, 149–157/148–156 ventral scales in males/females or 148–159 in general, 72–76/59–65 subcaudal scales in males/females, and 9–11 supralabial scales (9–10 with the third being the largest).^[1]

Habitat

In Borneo, it inhabits mountainous regions at altitudes from 1000m (3,000feet) to 1150m (3,770feet), where it is commonly found on branches of shrubs and other low vegetation.^[6]

Reproduction

The reproductive biology of this species is unknown.^[6]

Further reading

• Regenass, Urs; Kramer, Eugen. 1981. Zur Systematik der grünen Grubenottern der Gattung Trimeresurus (Serpentes, Crotalidae). Rev. Suisse de Zoolo. 88 (1): 163–205.

Notes and References

1. Gumprecht A, Tillack F,, Captain A, Ryabov S. 2004. Asian Pitvipers. Geitje Books. Berlin. 1st Edition. 368 pp. .
2. Iskandar, D. . Vogel, G. . Inger, R.F. . Auliya, M. . 2022 . 2012 . Trimeresurus barati . 2022 . e.T191923A217765960 . 10.2305/IUCN.UK.2022-1.RLTS.T191923A217765960.en . 18 September 2022.
3. Grismer, L. . 2022 . 2012 . Trimeresurus buniana . 2022 . e.T192086A217767279 . 10.2305/IUCN.UK.2022-1.RLTS.T192086A217767279.en . 19 September 2022.
4. Wogan, G. . Vogel, G. . Pauwels, O.S.G. . 2012 . Trimeresurus fucatus . 2012 . e.T178659A1541045 . 10.2305/IUCN.UK.2012-1.RLTS.T178659A1541045.en . 19 September 2022.
5. Iskandar, D. . Vogel, G. . Inger, R.F. . 2022 . 2012 . Trimeresurus toba . 2022 . e.T193452A217770501 . 10.2305/IUCN.UK.2022-1.RLTS.T193452A217770501.en . 19 September 2022.
6. Das, Indraneil. A Photographic Guide to Snakes and Other Reptiles of Borneo. Ralph Curtis Books. Sanibel Island, Florida. 144 pp. . (Popeia sabahi, p. 56.)