Catesby's snail-eater

Catesby's snail-eater (Dipsas catesbyi), also commonly known as Catesby's snail sucker,[2] is a nocturnal[1] species of nonvenomous snake endemic to northern South America.[1]

Catesby's snail-eater
Conservation status
Least Concern  (IUCN 3.1)[1]
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Chordata
Class:	Reptilia
Order:	Squamata
Suborder:	Serpentes
Family:	Colubridae
Genus:	Dipsas
Species:	D. catesbyi
Binomial name
Dipsas catesbyi (Sentzen, 1796)[1]
Synonyms
Coluber catesbeji [sic] Sentzen, 1796 Dipsas catesbyi — F. Boie, 1827 Stremmatognathus catesbyi — A.M.C. Duméril, Bibron & A.H.A. Duméril, 1854 Leptognathus catesbyi — Günther, 1858 Leptognathus catisbyi [sic] W. Peters, 1871 Cochliophagus catesbyi — Berg, 1901 Sibynomorphus catesbeji — Barbour & Noble, 1920 Sibynomorphus catesbyi — Amaral, 1926 Sibynomorphus catesbyei [sic] Amaral, 1929 Dipsas catesbyi — J. Peters, 1956[2]

Etymology

The specific name, catesbyi, is in honor of English naturalist Mark Catesby.[3]

Geographic range

Dipsas catesbyi is found in Bolivia, Brazil, Guyana,[4] Colombia, Ecuador, French Guiana, Peru, Suriname, and Venezuela.[5]

Habitat

This species lives at altitudes of up to 1,500 m (4,900 ft), in mountainous regions, tropical forests, and lowlands.[1]

Diet

Dipsas catesbyi, like all species in the genus Dipsas, preys on arboreal land snails and slugs.[6]

References

1. Kornacker P, Lehr E, Lundberg M (2010). Dipsas catesbyi. In: IUCN 2012. IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. Version 2012.2.
2. Peters JA (1956). "An Analysis of Variation in a South American Snake, Catesby's Snail-Sucker (Dipsas catesbyi Sentzen)". American Museum Novitates (1783): 1-41.
3. Beolens, Bo; Watkins, Michael; Grayson, Michael (2011). The Eponym Dictionary of Reptiles. Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press. xiii + 296 pp. ISBN 978-1-4214-0135-5. (Dipsas catesbyi, 50).
4. Cole CJ, Townsend CR, Reynolds RP, MacCulloch RD, Lathrop A (2013). "Amphibians and reptiles of Guyana, South America: Illustrated keys, annotated species accounts, and a biogeographic synopsis". Proceedings of the Biological Society of Washington. 125: 317–620. doi:10.2988/0006-324x-125.4.317.
5. Dipsas catesbyi. The Reptile Database. Reptile-database.reptarium.cz. Retrieved on 2013-01-03.
6. Goin CJ, Goin OB, Zug GR (1978). Introduction to Herpetology, Third Edition. San Francisco: W.H. Freeman and Company. xi + 378 pp. ISBN 0-7167-0020-4. (Genus Dipsas, pp. 149, 329).

Further reading

• Boulenger GA (1896). Catalogue of the Snakes in the British Museum (Natural History). Volume III., Containing the Colubridæ (Opisthoglyphæ and Proteroglyphæ), ... London: Trustees of the British Museum (Natural History). (Taylor and Francis, printers). xiv + 727 pp. + Plates I-XXV. (Leptognathus catesbyi, pp. 449–450).
• Freiberg M (1982). Snakes of South America. Hong Kong: T.F.H. Publications. 189 pp. ISBN 0-87666-912-7. (Dipsas catesbyi, p. 93).
• Jan G, Sordelli F (1870). Iconographie générale des Ophidiens, Trente-septième livraison. Paris: Baillière. Index + Plates I-VI. (Leptognathus catesbyi, Plate II, figure 2). (in French).
• Sentzen UJ (1796). "Ophiologische Fragmente, 6. Beschreibung des Coluber Catesbeji". Meyer's Zool. Arch. 2: 66-74. (Coluber catesbeji, new species). (in German).

External links

• Images
• Image eating a snail
• Image