Catesby's snail-eater

Catesby's snail-eater
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Reptilia
Order: Squamata
Suborder: Serpentes
Family: Colubridae
Genus: Dipsas
Species:
D. catesbyi
Binomial name
Dipsas catesbyi
(Sentzen, 1796)[1]
Synonyms[2]

Catesby's snail-eater (Dipsas catesbyi), also commonly known as Catesby's snail sucker,[2] is a nocturnal species of non-venomous snake in the family Colubridae.[1] The species is native to northern South America.[1]

In June 2021 upon manipulation, a snake of this species presented vocalization, a duration of 0.06 seconds, reaching 3036 Hz in its peak frequency with a modulated note, emitted through exhalation of air through the larynx, being the first record of a snake call in South America.[3]

Etymology

The specific name, catesbyi, is in honor of English naturalist Mark Catesby.[4]

Distribution

D. catesbyi is found in Bolivia, Brazil, Guyana,[5] Colombia, Ecuador, French Guiana, Peru, Suriname, and Venezuela.[6]

Description

D.catesbyi has a thin body, with the maximum recorded length sitting at 598 mm (23.5 in) for males and 585 mm (23.0 in) for females. The number of ventral scales have been recorded to vary from 164 to 220 for males and from 167 to 200 for females, while the number of subcaudal scales have been recorded to vary from 70 to 120 for males and 60 to 102 for females. A D.catesbyi has between 10 to 40 dark brown to black blotches, usually with white outlines, along the length of a brown to reddish-brown. The blotches are longer than the spacing separating one blotch from the next, and some blotches are connected at the snake's midline. The snake's belly is white, and usually has rectangular spots similar in colouration to the blotches on their backs. The positions of the rectangular spots and the spaces between the blotches tend to correspond.[7][8]

Habitat

D. catesbyi lives at altitudes of up to 1,500 m (4,900 ft), in mountainous regions, tropical forests, and lowlands.[1]

Diet

D. catesbyi, like all species in the genus Dipsas, preys on arboreal land snails and slugs.[9]

Reproduction

D. catesbyi is oviparous.[1][6]

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f Kornacker P, Lehr E, Lundberg M (2010). Dipsas catesbyi. In: IUCN 2012. IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. Version 2012.2.
  2. ^ a b Peters JA (1956). "An Analysis of Variation in a South American Snake, Catesby's Snail-Sucker (Dipsas catesbyi Sentzen)". American Museum Novitates (1783): 1–41.
  3. ^ Fernandes, Igor Yuri; Koch, Esteban Diego; Mônico, Alexander Tamanini (2023-10-09). "First record of a snake call in South America: the unusual sound of an ornate snail-eater Dipsas catesbyi". Acta Amazonica. 53 (3): 243–245. doi:10.1590/1809-4392202300431. ISSN 0044-5967.
  4. ^ Beolens, Bo; Watkins, Michael; Grayson, Michael (2011). "Dipsas catesbyi". The Eponym Dictionary of Reptiles. Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press. p. 50. ISBN 978-1-4214-0135-5.
  5. ^ Cole CJ; Townsend CR; Reynolds RP; MacCulloch RD; Lathrop A (2013). "Amphibians and reptiles of Guyana, South America: Illustrated keys, annotated species accounts, and a biogeographic synopsis". Proceedings of the Biological Society of Washington. 125 (4): 317–620. doi:10.2988/0006-324x-125.4.317. S2CID 86665287.
  6. ^ a b "Dipsas catesbyi". The Reptile Database. Retrieved 2013-01-03.
  7. ^ Sánchez-Martínez, Paola María; de França, Daniella Periera Fangundes; Trevine, Vivian C. (2022). Bell, Christopher J.; LaDuc, Travis J. (eds.). Dipsas catesbyi. Catalogue of American Amphibians and Reptiles. Vol. 928. Society for the Study of Amphibians and Reptiles. pp. 1–3. doi:10.26153/tsw/24033. Retrieved 18 May 2026 – via University of Texas.
  8. ^ Harvey, Michael B.; Embert, Dirk (2008). "Review of Bolivian Dipsas (Serpentes: Colubridae), with Comments on Other South American Species" (PDF). Herpetological Monographs. 22 (1): 72. doi:10.1655/07-023.1. ISSN 0733-1347. Retrieved 18 May 2026 – via ResearchGate.
  9. ^ Goin, Coleman J. [in French]; Goin, Olive B.; Zug, George R. [in German] (1978). "Genus Dipsas". Introduction to Herpetology, Third Edition. San Francisco: W.H. Freeman and Company. pp. 149, 329. ISBN 0-7167-0020-4.

Further reading

  • Boulenger GA (1896). Catalogue of the Snakes in the British Museum (Natural History). Volume III., Containing the Colubridæ (Opisthoglyphæ and Proteroglyphæ), ... London: Trustees of the British Museum (Natural History). (Taylor and Francis, printers). xiv + 727 pp. + Plates I-XXV. (Leptognathus catesbyi, pp. 449–450).
  • Freiberg M (1982). Snakes of South America. Hong Kong: T.F.H. Publications. 189 pp. ISBN 0-87666-912-7. (Dipsas catesbyi, p. 93).
  • Marciano-Júnior E, Mira-Mendes CV, Dias IR, Oliveira FFR, Drummond LO (2015). "Dipsas catesbyi (Catesby's Snail-eater). Defensive Behavior". Herpetological Review 46 (4): 643.
  • Jan G, Sordelli F (1870). Iconographie générale des Ophidiens, Trente-septième livraison. Paris: Baillière. Index + Plates I-VI. (Leptognathus catesbyi, Plate II, figure 2). (in French).
  • Sentzen UJ (1796). "Ophiologische Fragmente, 6. Beschreibung des Coluber Catesbeji". Meyer's Zoologische Archives 2: 66-74. (Coluber catesbeji, new species). (in German).
  • Zug, George R.; Hedges, S. Blair; Sunkel, Sara (1979). "Variation in Reproductive Parameters of Three Neotropical Snakes, Coniophanes fissidens, Dipsas catesbyi, and Imantodes cenchoa". Smithsonian Contributions to Zoology (300): 1–20.
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