Schmidt’s Coffee-Snake (Ninia schmidti)

Reptiles of Ecuador | Serpentes | Colubridae | Ninia schmidti

English common name: Schmidt’s Coffee-Snake.

Spanish common name: Culebra cafetera de Schmidt.

Recognition: ♂♂ 35.3 cmMaximum distance from the snout to the tip of the tail. Snout–vent length=28.3 cm. ♀♀ 49.3 cmMaximum distance from the snout to the tip of the tail. Snout–vent length=40.9 cm..¹ Ninia schmidti can be distinguished from other snakes by having strongly keeled dorsal scales arranged in 19 rows at mid-body, two prefrontal scales, blackish dorsum (Fig. 1), and white ventral surfaces obscured by various degrees of brown pigmentation.¹ This species resembles N. teresitae in both coloration and scale counts, but the two species are not known to co-occur, with N. teresitae occupying more humid ecosystems in northwestern Ecuador.¹ From N. guytudori, it differs by having the throat and chin shields obscured by dark brown pigment, supralabials partly or entirely black or dark gray, and white nuchal collar in adults absent or faint and obscured by dark pigment.¹

Figure showing variation among individuals of Ninia schmidti

Figure 1: Individuals of Ninia schmidti from Ecuador: Buenaventura Reserve, El Oro province (); Vía a Tembelé, Bolívar province ().

Natural history: Ninia schmidti is a terrestrial and semi-fossorial snake that inhabits well-preserved seasonally dry forests and rainforest as well as transformed habitats such as cacao plantations.^1,2 Schmidt’s Coffee-Snakes have been found active at night on leaf-litter along forest trails or crossing dirt roads in areas of secondary forest.^1,2 In Manabí province, this species is common under leaf-litter in humid soil and under fallen trunks. In captivity, one individual consumed earthworms and leeches, but rejected slugs and land flatworms of the family Geoplanidae.¹ This specimen laid a clutch of two eggs.¹ When threatened, the typical defensive behavior of the Schmidt’s Coffee-Snake is to flatten the neck and anterior third of the body, coiling into a defensive ball posture, and emitting fetid fluids through the cloaca.^1,2

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Conservation: Near Threatened Not currently at risk of extinction, but requires some level of management to maintain healthy populations..¹ Ninia schmidti is listed in this category because the species’ extent of occurrence is estimated to be greater than the 20,000 km² threshold needed to qualify for the Vulnerable category. Unfortunately, out of the eight localities where N. schmidti is known to occur, two represent historical populations and five are of single individuals.¹ The species occurs as fragmented populations over an area where approximately 80% of the forest cover has been transformed into plantations and human settlements.³ Therefore, N. schmidti may qualify for a threatened category soon if its habitat continues to be destroyed. Fortunately, the species occurs in one protected area: Buenaventura Reserve.¹

Distribution: Ninia schmidti is endemic to an area of approximately 42,281 km² along the Chocoan–Tumbesian transition area in western Ecuador (Fig. 2). The species also likely occurs in neighboring Perú.

Figure 2: Distribution of Ninia schmidti in Ecuador. The star corresponds to the type locality: Guayaquil, Guayas province. See Appendix 1 for a complete list of the presence localities included in the map.

Etymology: The generic name Ninia was coined by Baird and Girard in 1853 without any reference regarding its Greek or Latin root. However, Ninia was one of the many names in Greek mythology used to refer to Eurydice, wife of Orpheus, a legendary musician, poet, and prophet. According to the myth, Eurydice dies after her wedding by stepping on a viper. Orpheus goes mad by losing his only love and travels to the underworld to retrieve her. He plays his softened music so extraordinarily that Hades (God of death) and Persephone (Queen of death) allow him to take Eurydice back to the world of the living.⁴ As far as is known, Ninia does not have Latin roots. The specific epithet schmidti honors Philipp Moses Paul Frederich Schmidt (1800–1869/1873), a physician in Hamburg best known for his work on sea snakes.⁵

See it in the wild: Schmidt’s Coffee-Snakes are considered a rare species, being found at a rate of about once every few months (at Buenaventura Reserve) or years (elsewhere throughout their range). During the day, the best way to find them is by removing leaf-litter; however, they also often appear under rotten logs. At night, they can be found by scanning the floor along forest trails.

Acknowledgments: Special thanks to Regdy Vera for providing natural history data for Ninia schmidti.

Author: Alejandro Arteaga^aAffiliation: Khamai Foundation, Quito, Ecuador.

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

How to cite? Arteaga A (2024) Schmidt’s Coffee-Snake (Ninia schmidti). 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/RWEZ3370

Literature cited:

Arteaga A, Harris KJ (2023) A new species of Ninia (Serpentes, Colubridae) from western Ecuador and revalidation of N. schmidti. Evolutionary Systematics 7: 317–334. DOI: 10.3897/evolsyst.7.112476
Regdy Vera, pers. comm. to AA.
MAE (2012) Línea base de deforestación del Ecuador continental. Ministerio del Ambiente del Ecuador, Quito, 30 pp.
Bowra CM (1952) Orpheus and Eurydice. Dancing Times 2: 113–126.
Beolens B, Watkins M, Grayson M (2011) The eponym dictionary of reptiles. Johns Hopkins University Press, Baltimore, 296 pp.

Appendix 1: Locality data used to create the distribution map of Ninia schmidti 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	Azuay	Chaucha	Arteaga & Harris 2023
Ecuador	Bolívar	Vía a Tembelé	Arteaga & Harris 2023
Ecuador	Cañar	Pancho Negro	Arteaga & Harris 2023
Ecuador	Chimborazo	Pallatanga	Arteaga & Harris 2023
Ecuador	El Oro	El Guayabo	Arteaga & Harris 2023
Ecuador	El Oro	Reserva Biológica Buenaventura	Arteaga & Harris 2023
Ecuador	Guayas	Guayaquil*	Jan 1862
Ecuador	Manabí	El Guayacán	Arteaga & Harris 2023