ID for snake from Borneo, please!

[Hans Breuer (twoton)]

Hi all,

My friend Ch'ien Lee sent me these two photos with the caption:

"Got a snake for you to run by your herp forums. Even though it looks like a standard wolf snake, this Lycodon doesn't seem to match anything in the books. It has both preocular and loreal scales so it can't be either L. effraenis or L. subcinctus. And the smooth scales mean that it can't be Lepturophis. I'd be keen to hear what the folks on the forum say."

We asked Indraneil Das, but he didn't know either ... which doesn't happen often.

Thanks very much in advance for your learned opinions!

Hans

[Evgeny Kotelevsky]

It looks similar to Lycodon albofuscus for me. But I can be mistaken

[Field Herper]

More specifically it looks like a juvenile Slender Wolf Snake (Lycodon albofuscus) as juveniles of this species have numerous pale bands across the dorsum; furthermore the head morphology, in particular the head and eye proportions are almost identical to some specimens of Lycodon albofuscus that I've seen. However, this specimen has smooth scales, whereas L. albofuscus has keeled scales, effectively eliminating it (assuming this feature is reliable).

[dendrelaphis]

Difficult to say without more morphological data but could this be a juvenile Stegnotus borneensis?

I don't know whether juveniles of this species have white bands, perhaps it is not known.

[intermedius]

I agree it could be S. borneensis. The species description of it is only based on adults. There isn't much information on the species available for me at the moment. All I have is the type description by Inger (1967) and Das' Southeast Asia field guide. Using morphometrics from these pieces of literature, I can see the following characters agreeing with S. borneensis.

1. It doesn't seem as slender as an L. albofuscus, plus the juveniles usually have more white on the upper head and nape.
2. The supralabials IV and V contact the orbit (as in Stegonotus), while supralabials III and V in L. albofuscus contact the orbit. (fide. Das)
3. Labials and chin entirely black with pink tinge (vs. white or entirely black in L. albofuscus)
4. Scales entirely smooth and not keeled, with small vertebral ridge.

Best to check head scalation and the maxillary teeth to confirm.

- Justin

P.S, here's Inger's description of Stegonotus borneensis

http://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/bibl ... 1#/summary

[Hans Breuer (twoton)]

Thank you very much, everyone, for your learned comments! This is why we keep coming here!