''Micrurus annellatus'', commonly known as annellated coral snake, is a

species A species () is often defined as the largest group of organisms in which any two individuals of the appropriate sexes or mating types can produce fertile offspring, typically by sexual reproduction. It is the basic unit of Taxonomy (biology), ...

of venomous

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 Snakes are elongated limbless reptiles of the suborder Serpentes (). Cladistically squamates, snakes are ectothermic, amniote vertebrates covered in overlapping scales much like other members of the group. Many species of snakes have s ...

native to southeastern

Ecuador Ecuador, officially the Republic of Ecuador, is a country in northwestern South America, bordered by Colombia on the north, Peru on the east and south, and the Pacific Ocean on the west. It also includes the Galápagos Province which contain ...

, eastern

Peru Peru, officially the Republic of Peru, is a country in western South America. It is bordered in the north by Ecuador and Colombia, in the east by Brazil, in the southeast by Bolivia, in the south by Chile, and in the south and west by the Pac ...

Bolivia Bolivia, officially the Plurinational State of Bolivia, is a landlocked country located in central South America. The country features diverse geography, including vast Amazonian plains, tropical lowlands, mountains, the Gran Chaco Province, w ...

, and western

Brazil Brazil, officially the Federative Republic of Brazil, is the largest country in South America. It is the world's List of countries and dependencies by area, fifth-largest country by area and the List of countries and dependencies by population ...

. There are three recognized

subspecies In Taxonomy (biology), biological classification, subspecies (: subspecies) is a rank below species, used for populations that live in different areas and vary in size, shape, or other physical characteristics (Morphology (biology), morpholog ...

, including the nominate subspecies described here.

Subspecies

There are 3 recognized subspecies: *''Micrurus annellatus annellatus'' ( Peters, 1871) *''Micrurus annellatus balzanii'' ( Boulenger, 1898) *''Micrurus annellatus bolivianus'' ( Roze, 1967)

Common names

Annellated coral snake. In Spanish: ''coral anilada'', ''naca-naca''. Portuguese: ''cobra-coral anelada''.

Description

The Annellated coral snake can grow to , but most are closer to . Its color pattern may vary between subspecies: overall dark blue to black, with narrow rings of white, yellow, pale blue (''M. a. annellatus''), or dull red (''M. a. balzani''). Tricolored specimens are black, red, & yellow and color patterns do not occur in "triads".

Habitat

It is mainly found in montane wet forest and cloud forest at elevations ranging from 300 up to 2,000 m.

References

{{Authority control annellatus Reptiles of Bolivia Snakes of Brazil Reptiles of Ecuador Reptiles of Peru Venomous snakes Reptiles described in 1871 Taxa named by Wilhelm Peters