Sibon sanniolus

Sibon sanniolus, commonly known as the pygmy snail-eating snake or the pygmy snail sucker, is a species of small snake in the family Colubridae. The species is endemic to Central America and southeastern Mexico.

Sibon sanniolus
Conservation status
Least Concern  (IUCN 3.1)[1]
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Chordata
Class:	Reptilia
Order:	Squamata
Suborder:	Serpentes
Family:	Colubridae
Genus:	Sibon
Species:	S. sanniolus
Binomial name
Sibon sanniolus (Cope, 1866)
Synonyms[2]
Mesopeltis sanniolus Cope, 1866 Leptognathus sanniola — Bocourt, 1908 Sibynomorphus sanniola — Schmidt & Andrews, 1936 Sibon sanniolus — Liner, 1994 Sibon sanniola — Lee, 2000 Sibon sanniolus — Wallach, 2014

Geographic range

S. sanniolus is found in Belize, Guatemala, and the Mexican states of Campeche, Quintana Roo, and Yucatán.[1][2][3]

Habitat

Sibon sanniolus is a relatively common snake that occurs in tropical semi-deciduous forest and thorn forest, and also in degraded forest.[1]

Reproduction

S. sanniolus reaches sexual maturity in eight months and produces a single clutch per year.[4]

Subspecies

Two subspecies are recognized as being valid, including the nominotypical subspecies.[2]

• Sibon sanniolus neilli Henderson, Hoevers & Wilson, 1977
• Sibon sanniolus sanniolus (Cope, 1866)

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

Etymology

The subspecific name, neilli, is in honor of American herpetologist Wilfred T. Neill.[5]

References

1. Lee J, Calderón Mandujano R (2013). "Sibon sanniolus". IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. 2013: e.T63920A3131114. doi:10.2305/IUCN.UK.2013-2.RLTS.T63920A3131114.en.
2. Sibon sanniolus at the Reptarium.cz Reptile Database. Accessed 19 April 2015.
3. Campbell JA (1999). Amphibians and Reptiles of Northern Guatemala, the Yucatan, and Belize. Norman, Oklahoma: University of Oklahoma Press. pp. 243–244. ISBN 978-0-8061-3066-8.
4. Zug GR (1993). An Introductory Biology of Amphibians and Reptiles. Academic Press. p. 150. ISBN 978-0-12-782622-6.
5. 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. (Sibon sanniolus neilli, p. 188).

Further reading

• Cope ED (1866). "Fifth Contribution to the Herpetology of Tropical America". Proc. Acad. Nat. Sci. Philadelphia 1886: 317–323. (Mesopeltis sanniolus, new species, p. 318).
• Boulenger GA (1896). Catalogue of the Snakes in the British Museum (Natural History). Volume III., Containing the Colubridæ (Opisthoglyphæ and Proteroglyphæ), Amblycephalidæ, and Viperidæ. London: Trustees of the British Museum (Natural History). (Taylor and Francis, printers). xiv + 727 pp. + Plates I-XXV. (Leptognathus sanniola, p. 459).
• Heimes, Peter (2016). Snakes of Mexico: Herpetofauna Mexicana Vol. I. Frankfurt, Germany: Chimaira. 572 pp. ISBN 978-3899731002.