Published November 12, 2020. Open access. | Gallery ❯ |
Günther's False-Coralsnake (Erythrolamprus guentheri)
Reptiles of Ecuador | Serpentes | Colubridae | Erythrolamprus guentheri
English common name: Günther's False-Coralsnake.
Spanish common name: Falsa coral de Günther.
Recognition: ♂♂ 72.5 cmMaximum distance from the snout to the tip of the tail. Snout–vent length=62.9 cm. ♀♀ 90.3 cmMaximum distance from the snout to the tip of the tail. Snout–vent length=80.8 cm.. The Günther's False-Coralsnake (Erythrolamprus guentheri) can be distinguished from the true coralsnakes (genus Micrurus) that inhabit Ecuador by having eyes that are considerably (6.4–6.6 times) larger than the adjacent preocular scales, whereas in coralsnakes the eye is about the same size as the preocular scale. In Ecuador, E. guentheri mimics the coloration of two coralsnakes: M. ornatissimus and M. steindachneri (a case of BatesianA harmless species imitates the warning coloration of a venomous one. mimicry). Erythrolamprus guentheri differs from other false coralsnakes by having unpaired black rings instead of paired rings (such as in E. aesculapii), and by having the black rings separated form the red ones by thin white or yellowish rings.1,2 Ecuadorian false coralsnakes of the genus Oxyrhopus have the black and red rings in contact. Young individuals of E. guentheri have a distinct light band across the parietals.1
Figure 1: Subadult of Günther's False-Coralsnake (Erythrolamprus guentheri) from Lumbaqui, Sucumbíos province, Ecuador.
Natural history: UncommonUnlikely to be seen more than once every few months. to rareTotal average number of reported observations per locality less than ten.. Erythrolamprus guentheri is a terrestrial snake that inhabits old-growth to moderately disturbed evergreen lowland forests (rainforests) and foothill forests. The species also occurs in pastures and occasionally inside houses.3 Most individuals have been seen during the day, foraging on the forest floor or crossing roads and trails.4 Individuals of E. guentheri are mildly venomous, which means they are dangerous to small prey, but not to humans.2
Conservation: Least Concern Believed to be safe from extinction given current circumstances..5 Erythrolamprus guentheri is included in this category on the basis of its wide range of distribution, occurrence in protected areas, and presumed stable populations.5 The most important threat to the long-term survival of the species is habitat destruction mostly due to mining and the expansion of the agricultural frontier. Individuals of E. guentheri also suffer from direct killing.3 Günther's False-Coralsnakes are often mistaken with venomous snakes and therefore killed on sight.3
Distribution: Erythrolamprus guentheri is native to the Amazonian lowlands and adjacent Andean foothills of Ecuador and Peru. In Ecuador, the species occurs at elevations between 238 and 1375 m (Fig. 2).
Figure 2: Distribution of Erythrolamprus guentheri in Ecuador. See Appendix 1 for a complete list of the presence localities included in the map.
Etymology: The name Erythrolamprus, which comes from the Greek words erythros (meaning “red”) and lampros (meaning “brilliant”),6 refers to the bright red body rings of some snakes in this genus. The specific epithet guentheri honors Albert Günther (1830–1914), a German-born British zoologist, ichthyologist, and herpetologist, best known for his role as Keeper of Zoology at the Natural History Museum in London.
See it in the wild: Günther's False-Coralsnakes cannot be expected to be seen reliably using standard methods of field herping, since individuals are recorded accidentally and no more than once every few months. However, in southeastern Ecuador, along the Zamora river valley, up to 15–20 individuals of Erythrolamprus guentheri have been registered in a single locality during a period of 12 months.7
Acknowledgments: Special thanks to Darwin Núñez and Jorge Vaca for providing natural history and locality data for Erythrolamprus guentheri. For providing morphological measurements of individuals of E. guentheri, the first author is grateful to Felipe Franco Curcio. This account was published with the support of Secretaría Nacional de Educación Superior Ciencia y Tecnología (programa INEDITA; project: Respuestas a la crisis de biodiversidad: la descripción de especies como herramienta de conservación; No 00110378), Programa de las Naciones Unidas (PNUD), and Universidad San Francisco de Quito (USFQ).
Author: Alejandro ArteagaaAffiliation: Khamai Foundation, Quito, Ecuador.
Photographer: Alejandro ArteagaaAffiliation: Khamai Foundation, Quito, Ecuador.
How to cite? Arteaga A (2020) Günther's False-Coralsnake (Erythrolamprus guentheri). In: Arteaga A, Bustamante L, Vieira J (Eds) Reptiles of Ecuador: Life in the middle of the world. Available from: www.reptilesofecuador.com. DOI: 10.47051/GLZT9665
Literature cited:
- Peters JA (1957) Taxonomic notes on Ecuadorian snakes in the American Museum of Natural History. American Museum Novitates 1851: 1–13.
- Curcio FF, Scali S, Rodrigues MT (2015) Taxonomic status of Erythrolamprus bizona Jan (1863 (Serpentes, Xenodontinae): assembling a puzzle with many missing pieces. Herpetological Monographs 29: 40–64. DOI: 10.1655/HERPMONOGRAPHS-D-15-00002
- Field notes, Reptiles of Ecuador book project.
- Darwin Núñez, pers. comm.
- Cisneros-Heredia DF, Almendáriz A, Catenazzi A (2016) Erythrolamprus guentheri. The IUCN Red List of threatened species. Available from: www.iucnredlist.org. DOI: 10.2305/IUCN.UK.2016-1.RLTS.T203510A2766824.en
- Brown RW (1956) Composition of scientific words. Smithsonian Books, Washington D.C., 882 pp.
- Jorge Vaca, pers. comm.
Appendix 1: Locality data used to create the distribution map of Erythrolamprus guentheri in Ecuador (Fig. 2). Go to the section on symbols and abbreviations for a list of acronyms used.
| Country | Province | Locality | Source |
| Ecuador | Morona Santiago | Fruta del Norte | This work |
| Ecuador | Morona Santiago | Macas | Curcio et al. 2015 |
| Ecuador | Morona Santiago | Macuma | Curcio et al. 2015 |
| Ecuador | Morona Santiago | Metsankim | iNaturalist |
| Ecuador | Morona Santiago | Sucúa | Curcio et al. 2015 |
| Ecuador | Morona Santiago | Turula | Curcio et al. 2015 |
| Ecuador | Napo | Archidona | Photo by Diego Piñán |
| Ecuador | Napo | Gareno Lodge | Photo by Sandro Aguinda |
| Ecuador | Napo | Ikiam | Photo by Grace Reyes |
| Ecuador | Orellana | Loreto | Fugler & Walls 1978 |
| Ecuador | Orellana | Tiguino | Fugler & Walls 1978 |
| Ecuador | Pastaza | 2.2 km from Mera | Curcio et al. 2015 |
| Ecuador | Pastaza | Alto Curaray | Curcio et al. 2015 |
| Ecuador | Pastaza | Cabeceras del Río Bobonaza | Curcio et al. 2015 |
| Ecuador | Pastaza | Conambo | Curcio et al. 2015 |
| Ecuador | Pastaza | Mera | Curcio et al. 2015 |
| Ecuador | Pastaza | Reserva Río Anzu | MECN 2013 |
| Ecuador | Pastaza | Río Alpayacu | Curcio et al. 2015 |
| Ecuador | Pastaza | Río Pastaza | Curcio et al. 2015 |
| Ecuador | Pastaza | Río Pindo | Fugler & Walls 1978 |
| Ecuador | Pastaza | Sarayacu | Curcio et al. 2015 |
| Ecuador | Pastaza | Shell | Curcio et al. 2015 |
| Ecuador | Sucumbíos | Lumbaqui | This work |
| Ecuador | Zamora Chinchipe | Copalinga | Reeves et al. 2016 |
| Ecuador | Zamora Chinchipe | Maycu | Photo by Darwin Núñez |
| Ecuador | Zamora Chinchipe | Proyecto Minero Mirador | Photo by Raquel Betancourt |
| Ecuador | Zamora Chinchipe | Zamora | Photo by Darwin Núñez |
| Peru | Amazonas | San Antonio, Río Cenepa | Campbell & Lamar 2004 |
| Peru | Cajamarca | Santa Rosa | Koch et al. 2018 |