''Micrurus nigrocinctus babaspul'', or the ''babaspul'' (Creole for "barber's pole"), is a

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 ...

of ''

Micrurus nigrocinctus ''Micrurus nigrocinctus'', commonly known as the Central American coral snake, is a species of a highly venomous snake in the family Elapidae. The species is endemic to Latin America from southern Mexico, Central America, to north Colombia. The ...

'', commonly known as the Central American coral snake. ''M. n. babaspul'' is a 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 ...

from Big Corn Island (''Isla Grande del Maíz''),

Nicaragua Nicaragua, officially the Republic of Nicaragua, is the geographically largest Sovereign state, country in Central America, comprising . With a population of 7,142,529 as of 2024, it is the third-most populous country in Central America aft ...

. According to O'Shea (2008) this is an endangered subspecies, and the subspecies may even be extinct.

Description

''M. n. babaspul'' is a tricoloured monadal coral snake. Its color pattern consists of rings in the order red/yellow/black/yellow/red. Being a monadal coral snake, it only has one black ring between each pair of red rings. It has a round small head with a long slender body. Adults may attain a total length (including tail) of .

Geographic Range

The ''babaspul'' is

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 ...

to Big Corn Island, Nicaragua.

Habitat

''M. n. babaspul'' inhabits tropical moist forests.

Diet

The ''babaspul'' will actively hunt small lizards and small snakes, and if available will take some rodents small enough for it to consume.

Reproduction

There is not much known about the reproduction of the ''babaspul'', but it is believed to be an

oviparous Oviparous animals are animals that reproduce by depositing fertilized zygotes outside the body (i.e., by laying or spawning) in metabolically independent incubation organs known as eggs, which nurture the embryo into moving offsprings kno ...

species.

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