''Cryptophis'' is a

genus Genus (; : genera ) is a taxonomic rank above species and below family (taxonomy), family as used in the biological classification of extant taxon, living and fossil organisms as well as Virus classification#ICTV classification, viruses. In bino ...

venomous snake ''Venomous snakes'' are species of the suborder Serpentes that are capable of producing venom, which they use for killing prey, for defense, and to assist with digestion of their prey. The venom is typically delivered by injection using hollow ...

s in the

family Family (from ) is a Social group, group of people related either by consanguinity (by recognized birth) or Affinity (law), affinity (by marriage or other relationship). It forms the basis for social order. Ideally, families offer predictabili ...

Elapidae Elapidae (, commonly known as elapids , from , variant of "sea-fish") is a 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 '' Emydocephalus ...

. The genus is native to Australia and

New Guinea New Guinea (; Hiri Motu: ''Niu Gini''; , fossilized , also known as Papua or historically ) is the List of islands by area, world's second-largest island, with an area of . Located in Melanesia in the southwestern Pacific Ocean, the island is ...

Species

The following five species are recognized as being valid. *'' Cryptophis boschmai'' - Carpentaria whip snake *'' Cryptophis incredibilis'' *''

Cryptophis nigrescens ''Cryptophis nigrescens'' is a species of venomous snake in the family Elapidae. The species is endemic to eastern Australia. Taxonomy ''Cryptophis nigrescens'' was described by Albert Günther in 1862, assigning the new species to ''Hoplocepha ...

'' - small-eyed snake, eastern small-eyed snake, short-tailed snake *'' Cryptophis nigrostriatus'' - black-striped snake *''

Cryptophis pallidiceps ''Cryptophis pallidiceps'', also known as the western Carpentaria snake or northern small-eyed snake, is a species of venomous snake endemic to Australia. The specific epithet ''pallidiceps'' ("pale-headed") refers to its body markings. Descri ...

'' - western Carpentaria snake, northern small-eyed snake ''

Nota bene ( ; plural: ) is the Latin language, Latin phrase meaning ''note well''. In manuscripts, ''nota bene'' is abbreviated in upper-case as NB and N.B., and in lower-case as n.b. and nb; the editorial usages of ''nota bene'' and ''notate bene'' fi ...

'': A

binomial authority In taxonomy, binomial nomenclature ("two-term naming system"), also called binary nomenclature, is a formal system of naming species of living things by giving each a name composed of two parts, both of which use Latin grammatical forms, altho ...

in parentheses indicates that the species was originally described in a genus other than ''Cryptophis''.

Etymology

The generic name is a combination of the

Greek Greek may refer to: Anything of, from, or related to Greece, a country in Southern Europe: *Greeks, an ethnic group *Greek language, a branch of the Indo-European language family **Proto-Greek language, the assumed last common ancestor of all kno ...

words κρυπτός (concealed, hidden, secret) and ὄφις (snake).

Species

Etymology

References

Further reading