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Family : CYLINDROPHIIDAE
Species : Cylindrophis ruffus
Maximum Size : 90 cm
Cylindrophis ruffus is a lowland species
of asian pipe snake,
generally preferring swampy, forested habitats, but it may also occur in
disturbed, agricultural areas.
It leads a burrowing lifestyle: its body shape is cylindrical in cross-section
and is ideally suited for pushing through soft soil and compacted leaf
litter. It feeds mainly on other
snakes and eels, and is a good swimmer.
Its body is dark but
iridescent, with indistinct lighter, sometimes reddish, bands. The blunt tail has reddish
colouration which it displays when threatened. Typically there is a broad, light
band on the back of the neck. There is an irregular pattern of pale bars and
blotches on the underside.
Its head is short and blunt, and of the same width as the body, and the eyes are small.
In 2015, the Red-tailed Pipe Snake
in Singapore was described as a separate species, Cylindrophis mirzae,
by Amarasinghe et al, however the validity of this is questioned by other
researchers (Kieckbush et al, 2016).
Fig 1 : Dorsal side, with typical pale, orange-red banding.
Fig 2 : Ventral side, with broken white bars.
Fig 3 : The head is barely wider than the body and the eyes are small.
Fig 4 : Here the tail is raised as a warning sign.
All photos are of the same specimen from Singapore, thanks to Benjamin Lee.
References : H1, H2
Amarasinghe, A. A. T., Campbell, P. D., Hallermann, J., Sidik, I.,
Supriatna, J., & Ineich, I. (2015). Two new species of the genus
Cylindrophis Wagler, 1828 (Squamata: Cylindrophiidae) from Southeast Asia.
Amphibian & Reptile Conservation, 9(1), 34-51.
Kieckbusch, M., Mecke, S., Hartmann, L., Ehrmantraut, L., O’Shea, M. &
Kaiser, H. (2016). An inconspicuous, conspicuous new species of Asian
pipesnake, genus Cylindrophis (Reptilia: Squamata: Cylindrophiidae),
from the south coast of Jawa Tengah, Java, Indonesia, and an overview of the
tangled taxonomic history of C. ruffus (Laurenti, 1768). Zootaxa,
4093(1), 1-25.
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