Spectacled hooded snake

Spectacled hooded snake
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Reptilia
Order: Squamata
Suborder: Serpentes
Family: Elapidae
Genus: Suta
Species:
S. spectabilis
Binomial name
Suta spectabilis
(Krefft, 1869)
Synonyms
  • Hoplocephalus spectabilis
    Kreft, 1869
  • Denisonia spectabilis
    — Storr, 1981
  • Unechis spectabilis
    — Cogger, 1983
  • Rhinoplocephalus spectabilis
    — Storr, 1984
  • Suta spectabilis
    — Hutchinson, 1990
  • Parasuta spectabilis
    — Greer, 2006

The spectacled hooded snake (Suta spectabilis), also known commonly as the Port Lincoln snake, is a species of venomous snake in the family Elapidae. The species is native to central-southern Australia. There are three recognized subspecies.

Geographic range

S. spectabilis is found in the Australian states of New South Wales, Queensland, South Australia and Western Australia.

Habitat

The preferred natural habitats of S. spectabilis are grassland and shrubland.

Description

Adults of S. spectabilis have an average snout-to-vent length (SVL) of 26.5 cm (10.4 in), and the length of the tail is on average 12.5% SVL. The maximum recorded SVL is 35.6 centimetres (14.0 in).

Reproduction

S. spectabilis is viviparous.

Subspecies

Including the nominotypical subspecies, three subspecies are recognized as being valid.

Nota bene: A trinomial authority in parentheses indicates that the subspecies was originally described in a genus other than Parasuta.

Etymology

The subspecific name, bushi, is in honor of Australian herpetologist Brian Gordon Bush (born 1947).

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 Ellis R, Shea G, Cogger H (2017). "Parasuta spectabilis ". The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species 2017: e.T102719807A102719969. https://dx.doi.org/10.2305/IUCN.UK.2017-3.RLTS.T102719807A102719969.en. Downloaded on 23 January 2020
  2. 1 2 3 4 Species Suta spectabilis at The Reptile Database www.reptile-database.org.
  3. 1 2 Storr (1981).
  4. ↑ Beolens, Bo; Watkins, Michael; Grayson, Michael (2011). The Eponym Dictionary of Reptiles. Baltimore, Maryland: Johns Hopkins University Press. xiii + 296 pp. ISBN 978-1-4214-0135-5. (Suta spectabilis bushi, p. 44).

Further reading