Kikuzato's brook snake

Kikuzato's brook snake (Opisthotropis kikuzatoi), also known commonly as Kikuzato's stream snake, is a species of snake in the family Colubridae. The species is endemic to Japan.

Kikuzato's brook snake

Critically Endangered  (IUCN 2.3)
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Reptilia
Order: Squamata
Suborder: Serpentes
Family: Colubridae
Genus: Opisthotropis
Species:
O. kikuzatoi
Binomial name
Opisthotropis kikuzatoi
(Okada & Takara, 1958)
Synonyms[1]
  • Liopeltis kikuzatoi
    Okada & Takara, 1958
  • Opisthotropis kikuzatoi
    — M. Mori, 1984

Etymology

The specific name, kikuzatoi, is in honor of Kiyotasu Kikuzato, who collected the holotype.[2]

Geographic range

O. kikuzatoi is found on Kumejima Island, one of the Okinawa Group islands of Japan.[1]

Habitat

O. kikuzatoi is aquatic, inhabiting flowing streams in the northern and southern hilly regions of the island. Habitats between the two localities have been completely converted to agricultural land[3].

Threats

This species, O. kikuzatoi, is listed as Critically Endangered by the IUCN under criterion B1ab(iii,v)+2ab(iii,v), due to threats from capturing as bycatch, water pollution, and predation from introduced species, primarily Lithobates catesbeianus, the American bullfrog. The American bullfrog was introduced was introduced to Kumeijima Island in 1953, and predation may provide great pressure on the population after many decades of population decline. Inbreeding within the small (and isolated) populations is becoming a significant threat also. Specimens have been observed with minor abnormalities (asymmetrical scales on the head) not recorded in the past[3].

Diet

O. kikuzatoi feeds on earthworms, freshwater shrimp, freshwater fishes, tadpoles, and frogs.[1]

Reproduction

Kikuzato's brook snake is oviparous.[1]

References
  1. "Opisthotropis kikuzatoi ". The Reptile Database. www.reptile-database.org.
  2. 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. (Opisthotropis kikuzatoi, p. 141).
  3. "The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species". IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. Retrieved 2018-11-06.

Further reading
  • Okada Y, Takara T (1958). "A New Species of Liopeltis (Ophidia, Colubridae) from the Ryukyu Islands". Bull. Biogeograph. Soc. Japan 20 (3): 1–3. (Liopeltis kikuzatoi, new species).
  • Ota H (2004). "Field observations on a highly endangered snake, Opisthotropis kikuzatoi (Squamata: Colubridae), endemic to Kumejima Island, Japan". Current Herpetology 23 (2): 73–80.



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