''Calliophis haematoetron'', commonly known as the blood-bellied coralsnake or blood-bellied coral snake, is a species of

venomous Venom or zootoxin is a type of toxin produced by an animal that is actively delivered through a wound by means of a bite, sting, or similar action. The toxin is delivered through a specially evolved ''venom apparatus'', such as fangs or a sti ...

elapid Elapidae (, commonly known as elapids , from , variant of "sea-fish") is a family (biology), family of snakes characterized by their permanently erect fangs at the front of the mouth. Most elapids are venomous, with the exception of the genus ...

snake

endemic Endemism is the state of a species being found only in a single defined geographic location, such as an island, state, nation, country or other defined zone; organisms that are indigenous to a place are not endemic to it if they are also foun ...

Sri Lanka Sri Lanka, officially the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka, also known historically as Ceylon, is an island country in South Asia. It lies in the Indian Ocean, southwest of the Bay of Bengal, separated from the Indian subcontinent, ...

Geographic range

It is found in central lowlands of

. It is known from Wasgamuwa and Rattota.

Description

''Calliophis haematoetron'' measure in total length. Frontal shorter or sub-equal to inter-parietal suture. First sub-labial does not contact second pair of chin-shields. Head relatively unpigmented. No light spots postero-lateral to parietals. Dorsum banded. Venter is bright red and red pigment lateral to blue under-tail colour. Snake is known to produce 3 eggs at a time.

References

* http://eol.org/pages/1282253/hierarchy_entries/41233638/overview * https://web.archive.org/web/20141004101244/http://www.srilankanreptiles.com/Snakes/CobrasKraitsCoralSnakesSeaSnakes.html * https://books.google.com/books?id=wsySAwAAQBAJ&pg=PA145 haematoetron Snakes of Asia Reptiles of Sri Lanka Endemic fauna of Sri Lanka Reptiles described in 2008 {{Elapidae-stub