Lycodon rufozonatus
{{Short description|Species of snake}}
{{Italic title}}{{speciesbox
| name = Lycodon rufozonatus
| status = LC
| status_system = IUCN3.1
| image = Asian king snake.jpeg
| genus = Lycodon
| species = rufozonatus
| authority = (Cantor, 1842)
| subdivision_ranks = Subspecies
| subdivision =
- L. r. rufozonatus (Cantor, 1842)
- L. r. walli Stejneger, 1907
| synonyms =
- Lycodon rufo-zonatus
Cantor, 1842 - Lycodon rufozonatus
— Günther, 1864 - Dinodon cancellatum
A.M.C. Duméril, Bibron &
A.H.A. Duméril, 1854 - Coronella striata
Hallowell, 1857 - Dinodon rufozonatus
— W. Peters, 1881 - Dinodon rufozonatum
— Stejneger, 1907 - Lycodon rufozonatus
— Siler et al., 2013
| synonyms_ref = {{EMBL species|genus=Lycodon|species=rufozonatus}} www.reptile-database.org.
}}
Lycodon rufozonatus is a species of snake in the family Colubridae. The species is native to East Asia. It is medium-sized, nocturnal, and is considered non-venomous. Two subspecies are recognised: one of which, L. r. walli, is restricted to the Ryukyu Archipelago; the other, L. r. rufozonatus (Cantor 1842), is found in only in Korea & China.{{Citation |last=백 |first=남극 |title=능구렁이 (Neung-guleong-i) |encyclopedia=한국민족문화대백과사전 [Encyclopedia of Korean Culture] |url=https://encykorea.aks.ac.kr/Article/E0013327 |access-date=2024-09-24 |publisher=Academy of Korean Studies |language=ko}}
Etymology
Description
Lycodon rufozonatus typically grows to a total length (including tail) of around {{convert|70|cm}}, reaching up to {{convert|130|cm|abbr=on}} in extreme cases. The head is long and relatively flat, and somewhat separate from the neck. The medium-sized eyes bulge slightly and have vertical pupils. The ventral scales have a strong keel, while the dorsal scales are only faintly keeled; the scale count is typically 17:17:15, but can be up to 21:19:17.
Geographic range
Lycodon rufozonatus is found across a large part of East Asia, from the Korean Peninsula in the north (and extending just into easternmost Russia) to northern Laos and Vietnam in the south; the bulk of its range in found in eastern China. The continental populations are all placed in the nominate subspecies (L. r. rufozonatus); a second subspecies, L. r. walli, is found in the Ryukyu Archipelago of southern Japan.{{cite book |author=Ananjeva, Natalia B. |year=2006 |title=The Reptiles of Northern Eurasia: Taxonomic Diversity, Distribution, Conservation Status |volume=47 |series=Series faunistica |publisher=Pensoft Publishers |isbn=9789546422699 |chapter=Red-banded snake Dinodon rufozonatus (Cantor, 1840) |page=141 |chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=u4ElblE-6wgC&pg=PA141}}
Behaviour and ecology
File:Lycodon rufozonatus 72375999.jpg]]
Lycodon rufozonatus lives in a wide variety of habitats; it can be found from near sea level to as high as {{convert|2000|m}}, and is most common near river plains. It is usually found on the ground, but is occasionally seen swimming in streams. It is nocturnal, feeding on fish, frogs, lizards, snakes and young birds. D. rufozonatus has a generally mild disposition, curling into a spherical mass with the head hidden when approached. Individuals can, however, be unpredictable, and some will bite readily. There are very few clinical reports on the toxinology of D. rufozonatus bites, but the species appears to be non-venomous.{{cite web |url=http://www.toxinology.com/fusebox.cfm?fuseaction=main.snakes.display&id=SN1256 |title=Dinodon rufozonatum |work=Clinical Toxinology Resources |publisher=University of Adelaide |access-date=September 6, 2012}} L. rufozonatus can harbour tapeworms of the genus Spirometra, and the consumption of raw meat from D. rufozonatus has led to cases of human sparganosis in Korea and Japan.{{cite book |author1=Cook, Gordon Charles |author2=Zumla, Alimuddin |year=2009 |title=Manson's Tropical Diseases |edition=22nd |publisher=Elsevier Health Sciences |isbn=9781416044703 |page=1662 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=CF2INI0O6l0C&pg=PA1662}}
Reproduction
L. rufozonatus is oviparous.
Taxonomic history
The species was first described as "Lycodon rufo-zonatus " by Theodore Edward Cantor in an 1842 paper on the fauna of "Chusan" (Zhoushan, China) in the Annals and Magazine of Natural History.{{Cite journal |author=Cantor, Theodore Edward |year=1842 |title=General features of Chusan, with remarks on the flora and fauna of that island |journal=Annals and Magazine of Natural History |series=First Series|volume=9 |issue=59, 60 |pages=361–371, 481–493 |url=https://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/page/2312956 |doi=10.5962/bhl.title.6704|author-link=Theodore Edward Cantor }} (Lycodon rufo-zonatus, new species, p. 483). (in English and Latin). Cantor included it among the "innocuous" (not venomous) species, and described it as "Brown, with numerous transversal crimson bands; the abdominal surface pearl-coloured, spotted with black on the tail".
Common names
L. rufozonatus is known by several common names, including "Asian king snake",{{cite journal |author1=Dieckmann,Simon |author2=Norval, Gerrut |author3=Mao, Jean-Jay |year=2010 |title=A description of an Asian king snake (Dinodon rufozonatum rufozonatum [Cantor, 1842]) clutch size from central western Taiwan |journal=Herpetology Notes |volume=3 |pages=313–314 |url=http://www.herpetologynotes.seh-herpetology.org/Volume3_PDFs/Dieckmann_et_al_Herpetology_Notes_Volume3_pages313-314.pdf |access-date=2012-09-17 |archive-date=2016-03-04 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160304092208/http://www.herpetologynotes.seh-herpetology.org/Volume3_PDFs/Dieckmann_et_al_Herpetology_Notes_Volume3_pages313-314.pdf |url-status=dead }} "banded red snake", "red banded krait", "red banded odd-toothed snake" and "red-banded snake".
References
{{Reflist|32em}}
External links
- [https://www.gbif.org/species/5223677 Lycodon rufozaonatum: Images & occurrence data] from GBIF
- {{cite journal |author=Stejneger, Leonhard |year=1907 |title=Herpetology of Japan and adjacent territory |journal=United States National Museum Bulletin |volume=58 |url=https://archive.org/details/herpetologyjapa00stejgoog|author-link=Leonhard Stejneger }} Includes [https://archive.org/stream/herpetologyjapa01stejgoog#page/n430/mode/2up description of D. r. walli]
- {{Wikispecies-inline|Lycodon rufozonatus|Lycodon rufozonatus}}
- {{cite web |url=http://www.snakesoftaiwan.com/Dinodon%20rufozonatum/species_dinodon_rufozonatum.htm |title=Dinodon rufozonatum |access-date=2012-10-28 |archive-date=2016-03-03 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160303171302/http://www.snakesoftaiwan.com/Dinodon%20rufozonatum/species_dinodon_rufozonatum.htm |url-status=dead }} Snakes of Taiwan.
{{Taxonbar|from=Q1152359}}
Category:Snakes of Southeast Asia