Sakishima green snake

Sakashima Green Snake
Conservation status
Least Concern  (IUCN 3.1) [1]
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Chordata
Class:	Reptilia
Order:	Squamata
Suborder:	Serpentes
Family:	Colubridae
Genus:	Ptyas
Species:	P. herminae
Binomial name
Ptyas herminae (Boettger, 1895)
Synonyms [2]
Ablabes herminae Boettger, 1895 Liopeltis herminae — Stejneger, 1907 Entichinus herminae — Cundall, 1981 Opheodrys herminae — [ author missing ], [ year missing ] Eurypholis herminae — [ author missing ], [ year missing ] Cyclophiops herminae — Toriba, 1989 Ptyas herminae — Figueroa et al., 2016

The Sakishima green snake (Ptyas herminae) is a species of snake in the family Colubridae. The species is endemic to the Yaeyama Islands in the southern Ryukyu Islands of Japan. ^[1]

Conservation Status

These snakes were listed as Near Threatened on the revised 2000 Red List of Japan, ^[3] but this was changed to Least Concern in a 2016 assessment. ^[4]

Etymology

The specific name, herminae, is in honor of Boettger's wife, Hermine Boettger. ^[5]

Geographic range

P. herminae is found in the Yaeyama Islands of Japan. ^[1]

Habitat

The preferred natural habitat of P. herminae is forest. ^[1]

Description

P. herminae may attain a total length of 58 cm (23 in), which includes a tail about 11 cm (4.3 in) long. ^[6] They have a pointed snout, ^[5] and their scales are arranged in 17 rows, and they have 17 teeth in the upper jaw, of almost equal size. ^[7]

Behavior

P. herminae is terrestrial. ^[1]

Diet

P. herminae preys upon earthworms. ^[1]

Reproduction

P. herminae is oviparous. ^[2] An adult female may lay a clutch of about eight eggs in August, which is later than other species of terrestrial snakes lay eggs in the Ryukyus. ^[1]

References

1. Kidera, N.; Ota, H. (2017). "Ptyas herminae". IUCN Red List of Threatened Species . 2017: e.T96251357A96251360. doi: 10.2305/IUCN.UK.2017-3.RLTS.T96251357A96251360.en . Retrieved 15 November 2021.
2. Ptyas herminae at the Reptarium.cz Reptile Database
3. Ota, Hidetoshi. "Current status of the threatened amphibians and reptiles of Japan" (PDF). Population Ecology (42): 5–9.
4. Hidetoshi Ota (Institute of Natural and Environmental Sciences, University of Hyogo, Yayoigaoka 6, Sanda, Hyogo 669-1546, Japan); Noriko Kidera (National Institute for Environmental Studies, Japan) (2016-12-10). "IUCN Red List of Threatened Species: Ptyas herminae". IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. Archived from the original on 2025-04-29.
5. Beolens B, Watkins M, Grayson M (2011). The Eponym Dictionary of Reptiles. Johns Hopkins University Press. Baltimore. xiii + 296 pp. ISBN   978-1-4214-0135-5. (Cyclophiops herminae, p. 122).
6. Boulenger (1896).
7. Deutsche Zoologische Gesellschaft.; Gesellschaft, Deutsche Zoologische (1895). Zoologischer Anzeiger. Vol. Bd.18=no.465-492 (1895). Jena: VEB Gustav Fischer Verlag. p. 269.

Further reading

• Boettger O (1895). "Neue Frösche und Schlangen von den Liukiu-Inseln ". Zoologischer Anzeiger18: 266–270. (Ablabes herminae, new species, p. 269). (in German).
• 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 IXXV. ("Ablabes herminæ", p. 643).
• Figueroa A, McKelvy AD, Grismer LL, Bell CD, Lailvaux SP (2016). "A Species-Level Phylogeny of Extant Snakes with Description of a new Colubrid Subfamily and Genus". PLoS ONE11 (9): e0161070. (Ptyas herminae, new combination).
• Goris, Richard C; Maeda, Norio (2004). Guide to the Amphibians and Reptiles of Japan. Malabar, Florida: Krieger Publishing Company. 285 pp. ISBN   978-1575240855.
• Stejneger L (1907). Herpetology of Japan and Adjacent Territory. United States National Museum Bulletin 58. Washington, District of Columbia: Smithsonian Institution. xx + 577 pp. (Liopeltis herminæ, new combination, pp. 343–344, Figures 296–297).