Formosa slug snake or Taiwan slug snake (''Pareas formosensis'') is a species of non-venomous snake in the family Pareatidae. It 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 ...

Taiwan Taiwan, officially the Republic of China (ROC), is a country in East Asia. The main geography of Taiwan, island of Taiwan, also known as ''Formosa'', lies between the East China Sea, East and South China Seas in the northwestern Pacific Ocea ...

Taxonomy

It has been suggested that '' Pareas chinensis'' should be treated as a

synonym A synonym is a word, morpheme, or phrase that means precisely or nearly the same as another word, morpheme, or phrase in a given language. For example, in the English language, the words ''begin'', ''start'', ''commence'', and ''initiate'' are a ...

of ''P. formosensis'', but recent genetic research does not support this: ''P. formosensis'' does not appear closely related to ''P. chinensis'' but is instead a sister species to '' P. hamptoni''. The delineation of these species is not clear. In future, ''P. formosensis'' might become 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 ''P. hamptoni'', or some snakes from the mainland might be classified as ''P. formosensis''. Further studies have shown that '' Pareas komaii'' is a valid species, instead of being a synonym of ''P. formosensis''. The study also described a new species, '' Pareas atayal'', that have been confused with ''P. formosensis''. Thus, three ''Pareas'' species occur in Taiwan.

Description

The Formosa slug snake is a small snake with total length up to . These snakes are widespread in mountainous, moist forests. Formosa slug snakes are nocturnal and feed on land snails and slugs. Female snakes produce a clutch of 2–9 eggs; the hatchlings measure about in total length. ''P. formosensis'' is readily distinguished from ''P. komaii'' and ''P. atayal'' by its red iris and totally smooth

dorsal scales In snakes, the dorsal scales are the longitudinal series of plates that encircle the body, but do not include the ventral scales. Campbell JA, Lamar WW (2004). ''The Venomous Reptiles of the Western Hemisphere''. Ithaca and London: Comstock Publis ...

Distribution

The Formosa slug snake occurs throughout the mountain regions of Taiwan, except for the north-eastern tip of the island.

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q3006781 Pareas Snakes of Asia Reptiles of Taiwan Endemic fauna of Taiwan Reptiles described in 1909 Taxa named by John Van Denburgh