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I came across this snake just after a dip in a waterfall further up the mountain on December 23, 2004 on the island of Ometepe in Nicaragua. So what kind of snake is it? I think its a Central American Coral Snake (Micrurus nigrocinctus?). Anybody agree/disagree?

As my first venomous snake capture I was too excited to stop and take note of the scales (smooth or rough) or the pupils or many of the other traits that would have led to an easier identification. Luckily my traveling partner was quick with the camera. Which as you can see distorted the image a little bit. As you can see there is more red coloring on the side away from the camera leading me to believe that this is only a camera trick and the snake was in fact significantly more red.

That is Scolecophis atrocinctus. It is harmless.
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Chris Harrison
San Antonio, TX

NP
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"The luxury of not getting involved departed with the last lifeboat Skipper..."

Okay. I ran a search on Scolecophis atrocinctus and came up with "a rare snake who eats only centipedes."

Can you give me anymore information on the species? How rare are we talking? I'm pretty stoked that I encountered a snake at all on my trip, should I be even more so that its rather uncommon? I believe the coral snake is rather common in CA which led me to believe that's what it is. But now I realize I was wrong.

looks an awful lot like sonora semiannulata('variable ground snake')...see pic of banded phase on plate 48b(p. 201) of tennant's/bartlett's snakes of n. america-western region...hey btw what is the common name of that scolecophis atrocinctus?

While I am not saying tis is not Sonora, I will say that I have the utmost confidence in Chris & Frank's ability to key stuff out. Does Sonora even range that far south? You are looking at a book on snakes from western North America to key out a snake from Costa Rica. Not sure you're starting in the right place.

As far as the rarity of Scolecophis, this is the sum total of the comments on that snake from the Atlas by Obst, Richter & Jacob: Nocturnal ground snake. Biology hardly known.

~~Greg~~

Scolecophis atrocincis is mentioned more in depth in :

SNAKES OF CENTRAL AMERICA (ISBN 3-936180-02-4) This book lists food as insects and arachnids.

I have also had the opportunity to photograph this species (curtesy of UNDERGROUND REPTILES). Unfortunately they died shortly after coming in so I can give no clues to husbantry.

The genus Sonora is represented that far south but has a different structure (fatter body smaller head) and pattern from this.

Frank
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"The luxury of not getting involved departed with the last lifeboat Skipper..."

>>looks an awful lot like sonora semiannulata('variable ground snake')

It does resemble some of the banded patterns of groundsnakes, but
1. They don't make it down into C America
2. That snake is too big to be a Sonora
3. Sonora don't have such wide black bands

The probable reason is perceived as "rare" is that it barely ranges into Costa Rica (the main part of its range is on the pacific coast of Guatemala, El Salvador and Nicaragua. Because most tourists spend time in Costa Rica, we tend to judge a Central American snake's abundance by who sees it there. It could be dirt common in El Salvador. Who knows?
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Chris Harrison
San Antonio, TX