Lonely Spotbelly Snake (Coniophanes longinquus)

Reptiles of Ecuador | Serpentes | Colubridae | Coniophanes longinquus

English common name: Lonely Spotbelly Snake.

Spanish common name: Culebra ventripunteada solitaria.

Recognition: ♂♂ 35.1 cmMaximum distance from the snout to the tip of the tail. Snout–vent length=22.5 cm. ♀♀ 42.2 cmMaximum distance from the snout to the tip of the tail. Snout–vent length=28.3 cm..¹ Coniophanes longinquus is a small and slender snake that can be identified by having a tan brown dorsum with a series of dorsolateral black blotches that become merged into a pair of black stripes (Fig. 1). The head is rich reddish brown with a blackish irregular mark extending from the nape across the parietals and frontal.¹ A black-lined pale cream bar extends from behind the eye across the temporal region.¹ This species differs from C. dromiciformis by having well-defined dark spots on the anterior third of the body (lacking in C. dromiciformis).^1,2

Figure showing variation among individuals of Coniophanes longinquus

Figure 1: Individuals of Coniophanes longinquus from La Ceiba Reserve, Loja province, Ecuador.

Natural history: Coniophanes longinquus is a diurnal, crepuscular, and terrestrial snake that inhabits xeric ecosystems, including seasonally dry forests and shrublands. The species also occurs in areas having a matrix of coffee/banana plantations and overgrown fields with second growth forest.^1,3 By daytime or during the early evening, these snakes may be seen crossing dirt roads or foraging on the forest floor, swiftly moving on leaf-litter or along dry stream beds.^1,3 At night or during cold days, they remain hidden under tree trunks.⁴ Almost nothing is known about the diet in this species, except that one specimen had consumed a Desert Sticklizard (Macropholidus ruthveni).¹ Spotbelly snakes are calm, jittery, and rely mostly on their camouflage and swift movements to avoid predation.³ They have a long, fragile tail that breaks off easily when grabbed by a predator, enabling the escape and survival of the snake.³ In Peru, four adult females of C. longinquus were found to contain 3–4 eggs, which probably corresponds to the actual clutch size.¹

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Conservation: Least Concern Believed to be safe from extinction given current circumstances..⁵ Coniophanes longinquus is listed in this category because the species is widely distributed, abundant in some localities, and its populations are believed to be stable.⁵ Although deforestation due to agricultural expansion is prevalent in its area of distribution, this is not considered a major threat to the species, since C. longinquus and its prey items appear to occur in high densities in agricultural landscapes.¹

Distribution: Coniophanes longinquus is native to the Tumbesian lowlands and adjacent Andean foothills of southern Ecuador (Fig. 2) and northwestern Perú.

Figure 2: Distribution of Coniophanes longinquus in Ecuador. See Appendix 1 for a complete list of the presence localities included in the map.

Etymology: The name Coniophanes comes from the Greek konios (=dust) and phanion (=dim),⁶ and probably refers to the light spots along the belly of some members of the genus. The specific epithet longinquus is a Latin adjective meaning “outlying” or “remote.” It is used to refer to the outlying distribution of this species relative to other members of the genus.¹

See it in the wild: Lonely Spotbelly Snakes may be encountered at a rate of about once a week in forested areas of La Ceiba Reserve. The snakes may be seen as they cross forest trails during sunny days.

Authors: Alejandro Arteaga^aAffiliation: Tropical Herping (TH), Quito, Ecuador. and Sophia Hurtado^bAffiliation: Universidad ICESI, Cali, Colombia.

Photographer: Jose Vieira^cAffiliation: Tropical Herping (TH), Quito, Ecuador.^,^dAffiliation: ExSitu, Quito, Ecuador.

How to cite? Arteaga A, Hurtado S (2024) Lonely Spotbelly Snake (Coniophanes longinquus). In: Arteaga A, Bustamante L, Vieira J (Eds) Reptiles of Ecuador: Life in the middle of the world. Available from: www.reptilesofecuador.com. DOI: 10.47051/VPTD3022

Literature cited:

Cadle JE (1989) A new species of Coniophanes (Serpentes: Colubridae) from northwestern Peru. Herpetologica 45: 411–424.
Bailey JR (1939) A systematic study of the snakes of the genus Coniophanes. Papers of the Michigan Academy of Science, Arts and Letters 24: 1–48.
Field notes, Reptiles of Ecuador book project.
Pazmiño-Otamendi G (2020) Coniophanes longinquus. In: Torres-Carvajal O, Pazmiño-Otamendi G, Ayala-Varela F, Salazar-Valenzuela D (Eds) Reptiles del Ecuador. Museo de Zoología, Pontificia Universidad Católica del Ecuador. Available from: https://bioweb.biohttps://bioweb.bio
Lehr E (2021) Coniophanes longinquus. The IUCN Red List of threatened species. Available from: www.iucnredlist.org. DOI: 10.2305/IUCN.UK.2021-3.RLTS.T203469A2765986.en
Brown RW (1956) Composition of scientific words. Smithsonian Books, Washington D.C., 882 pp.

Appendix 1: Locality data used to create the distribution map of Coniophanes longinquus in Ecuador (Fig. 2). Go to the section on symbols and abbreviations for a list of acronyms used. Asterisk (*) indicates type locality.

Country	Province	Locality	Source
Ecuador	Loja	Chaguarpamba	Reptiles of Ecuador book database
Ecuador	Loja	Reserva Jorupe	Reptiles of Ecuador book database
Ecuador	Loja	Reserva La Ceiba	Torres-Carvajal et al. 2019
Ecuador	Loja	Río Malvas	This work; Fig. 1
Perú	Cajamarca	Monteseco	Cadle 1989
Perú	Cajamarca	Monteseco, 1 km NE of	Cadle 1989
Perú	Cajamarca	Monteseco, 1 km NNW of*	Cadle 1989
Perú	Cajamarca	Roadbetween Monte Seco and Udima	Cadle 1989
Perú	Lambayeque	Área de Conservación Ñaupe	Online multimedia
Perú	Piura	Piura department	Calero et al. 2018