Species Cryptophis nigrescens (Günther, 1862)

Museums

Regional Maps

• Hoplocephalus nigrescens Günther, A. 1862. On new species of snakes in the collection of the British Museum. Annals and Magazine of Natural History 3 9: 52-59, 124-132 [131, pl. 9, fig. 12].

  Type data:

   Holotype BMNH 1946.1.20.58, 'environs of Sydney', NSW.
• Alecto permixta Jan, G. 1863. Elenco Sistematico Degli Ofidi Descritti e Disegnati per l'Iconografia Generale. Milan : A. Lombardi 143 pp. [117] [nom. nud.].

  Type data:

   Syntype(s).
• Alecto melanotus Jan, G. 1863. Elenco Sistematico Degli Ofidi Descritti e Disegnati per l'Iconografia Generale. Milan : A. Lombardi 143 pp. [117] [nom. nud.].

  Type data:

   Status unknown, SMNS, Sydney, NSW.
• Alecto permixta Jan, G. & Sordelli, F. 1873. Iconographie Générale des Ophidiens. Atlas. Milan : Jan & Sordelli 43 pp. [pl. 1 fig. 2].

  Type data:

   Lectotype MNHP 949 (two syntypes with this number; the lectotype is the specimen with the catalogue number attached to it; both specimens received from G. Krefft of the Australian Museum in 1864 and the one which was illustrated is the designated lectotype), Sydney, NSW.
  Paralectotype(s) MGH 776 (3rd syntype).

  Subsequent designation references:

  Cogger, H.G., in Cogger, H.G., Cameron, E.E. & Cogger, H.M. 1983. Amphibia and Reptilia. 313 pp. in Walton, D.W. (ed.). Zoological Catalogue of Australia. Canberra : Australian Government Publishing Service Vol. 1 vi + 313 pp. [220].
• Hoplocephalus assimilis Macleay, W. 1885. On some reptilia lately received from the Herbert River District, Queensland. Proceedings of the Linnean Society of New South Wales 10: 64-68 [1886 on title page] [68].

  Type data:

   
  Syntype(s) AM B5944, 'vicinity of Herbert River', QLD; AM R31923–5.

 

Taxonomic Decision for Synonymy

• Cogger, H.G., in Cogger, H.G., Cameron, E.E. & Cogger, H.M. 1983. Amphibia and Reptilia. 313 pp. in Walton, D.W. (ed.). Zoological Catalogue of Australia. Canberra : Australian Government Publishing Service Vol. 1 vi + 313 pp. [220]

 

Generic Combinations

• Cryptophis nigrescens (Günther, 1862).

 

Distribution

States

Australian Capital Territory, New South Wales, Queensland, Victoria

Extra Distribution Information

Australian Endemic.

IBRA and IMCRA regions

IBRA

ACT, NSW, Qld, Vic: Australian Alps (AA), Brigalow Belt North (BBN), Central Mackay Coast (CMC), New England Tablelands (NET), NSW North Coast (NNC), Sydney Basin (SB), South East Corner (SEC), South Eastern Highlands (SEH), South Eastern Queensland (SEQ), Wet Tropics (WT)

Ecological Descriptors

Closed forest, nocturnal, open forest, predator, tall forest, terrestrial.

Extra Ecological Information

Viviparous, primarily lacertiphagous, sometimes diurnal in closed forest.

 

General References

Bridge, G. 1979. The small-eyed snake (Cryptophis nigrescens). Victorian Herpetological Society Newsletter 13: 17-18 (natural history)

Hoser, R.T. 1980. Further records of aggregations of various species of Australian snakes. Herpetofauna 12: 16-22 (aggregation)

Pollitt, C.C. 1981. Studies on the venom and blood of the eastern small-eyed snake Cryptophis nigrescens (Gunther). In, Banks, C.B. & Martin, A.A. (eds). Proceedings of the Melbourne Herpetological Symposium, 1980. Melbourne : Zoological Board of Victoria pp. 44-54. (venom, blood)

 

Common Name References

Clayton, M., Wombey, J.C., Mason, I.J., Chesser, R.T. & Wells, A. 2006. CSIRO List of Australian Vertebrates: A Reference with Conservation Status. Melbourne : CSIRO Publishing iv 162 pp. [44] (Eastern Small-eyed Snake)

 

History of changes

Published	As part of group	Action Date	Action Type	Compiler(s)
07-Feb-2024		26-Aug-2013	MODIFIED
08-Mar-2011		02-May-2011	MODIFIED
		12-Feb-2010	(import)