Micrurus ornatissimus, also known commonly as the ornate coral snake and la coral ornamentada in South American Spanish, is a species of venomous snake in the family Elapidae. The species is native to northwestern South America.
Description Micrurus ornatissimus is medium-sized for its genus. Adults usually have a total length (tail included) of . The maximum recorded total length is .
Like many New World coral snakes, the color pattern consist of red, black, and white rings. The red rings are slightly wider than the black rings. The black rings are not arranged in triads. The number of black rings on the body is very variable, from 38 to 67. The white rings, which separate the red from the black, are reduced to series of pearly dots, each dot covering half a dorsal scale. The white rings are complete ventrally, each covering one ventral.
Males have 201–211 ventrals and 47–52 subcaudals, and no supraanal tubercles. Females have 218–230 ventrals and 33–38 subcaudals. xii + 328 pp., 38 maps, 63 color photographs, 49 color pattern drawings. (Micrurus ornatissimus, pp. 206–207 + Map 31 + Color 37).
Geographic distribution Specimens of Micrurus ornatissimus have been identified in regions of the Amazonian slopes of the Andes of southern Colombia, eastern Ecuador, and northern Peru.
Habitat The preferred natural habitat of Micrurus ornatissimus is forest, at elevations of
Behavior Micrurus ornatissimus is terrestrial, semi-fossorial, and nocturnal.
Diet Micrurus ornatissimus preys on snakes such as blind snakes.
Reproduction Micrurus ornatissimus is oviparous.
Etymology The specific name, ornatissimus, is Latin for "very ornate". www.reptile-database.org.
The specific name of Boulenger's synonym, buckleyi, is in honor of Clarence Buckley (1839–1889) who collected over 10,000 biological specimens in Ecuador for the British Museum.
References
Further reading
396 pp. (Micrurus ornatissimus, pp. 100–101). (in Spanish). xiv + 727 pp. + Plates I–XXV. (Elaps buckleyi, new species, pp. 416–417 + Plate XXI, figure 1). xiv + 430 pp., 568 figures, 109 distribution maps, 31 tables. + Plates I–II. (in Portuguese, with an abstract in English). 189 pp. (Micrurus lagsdorffi ornatissimus, p. 115). (Elaps ornatissimus, new species, pp. 521–522). (in French). 208 pp. (Micrurus ornatissimus, p. 205). (in German). (Micrurus ornatissimus, new combination, p. 191).