Ramphotyphlops braminus

Ramphotyphlops braminus
Conservation status
Not evaluated (IUCN 3.1)
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Chordata
Subphylum:	Vertebrata
Class:	Reptilia
Order:	Squamata
Suborder:	Serpentes
Family:	Typhlopidae
Genus:	Ramphotyphlops
Species:	R. braminus
Binomial name
Ramphotyphlops braminus (Daudin, 1803)
Synonyms
Eryx braminus Daudin, 1803 [Tortrix] Russelii Merrem, 1820 Typhlops braminus — Cuvier, 1829 Typhlops Russeli — Schlegel, 1839 Argyrophis truncatus Gray, 1845 Argyrophis Bramicus Gray, 1845 Eryx Bramicus — Gray, 1845 Tortrix Bramicus — Gray, 1845 Onychocephalus Capensis A. Smith, 1846 Ophthalmidium tenue Hallowell, 1861 T[yphlops]. (Typhlops) inconspicuus Jan, 1863 T[yphlops]. (Typhlops) accedens Jan, 1863 T[yphlops]. accedens — Jan & Sordelli, 1864 Typhlops (Typhlops) euproctus Boettger, 1882 Typhlops bramineus A.B. Meyer, 1887 Tortrix russellii — Boulenger, 1893 Typhlops russellii — Boulenger, 1893 Typhlops braminus — Boulenger, 1893 Typhlops accedens — Boulenger, 1893 Typhlops limbrickii Annandale, 1906 Typhlops braminus var. arenicola Annandale, 1906 [Typhlops braminus] var. pallidus Wall, 1909 Typhlops microcephalus F. Werner, 1909 Glauconia braueri Sternfeld, 1910 [Typhlops] braueri — Boulenger, 1910 Typhlopidae braminus — Roux, 1911 Typhlops fletcheri Wall, 1919 Typhlops braminus braminus — Mertens, 1930 Typhlops braminus — Nakamura, 1938 Typhlops pseudosaurus Dryden & Taylor, 1969 Typhlina (?) bramina — McDowell, 1974 Ramphotyphlops braminus — Nussbaum, 1980 Indotyphlops braminus — Hedges et al., 2014

Common names: brahminy blind snake, brahminy blindsnake, more.

Ramphotyphlops braminus is a blind snake species found mostly in Africa and Asia, but has been introduced in many other parts of the world. Completely fossorial, they are often mistaken for earthworms, except that they are not segmented. The specific name is a Latinized form of the word Brahmin, which is a caste among Hindus. No subspecies are currently recognized.

Description

R. braminus in East Timor

Adults are small and thin, averaging between 6.35-16.5 cm (2½ to 6½ inches) in length. The head and tail-tip look much the same, with no narrowing of the neck. The rudimentary eyes appear only as a pair of small dots under the head scales. The tip of the tail ends with a tiny pointed spur. The head scales are small and resemble those on the body. There are 20 rows of dorsal scales along the entire body. The coloration of the adults varies from shiny silver gray to charcoal gray or purple. The venter is grayish to brown. Juveniles are colored much the same as the adults.

The tiny eyes are covered with translucent scales, rendering these snakes almost entirely blind. The eyes cannot form images, but are still capable of registering light intensity.

Common names

Ramphotyphlops braminus is variously known as brahminy blind snake (or brahminy blindsnake), flowerpot snake, common blind snake, island blind snake, and Hawaiian blind snake. The moniker "flowerpot snake" derives from the snake's incidental introduction to various parts of the world through the plant trade.

Geographic range

Found in Africa and Asia, but being an introduced species in many parts of the world, it is also found in Australia and the Americas. It is common throughout most of Florida [1]

In Africa, it has been reported in Senegal, Benin, Togo, Ivory Coast, Cameroon, Somalia, Zanzibar, Tanzania, Mozambique, South Africa (an isolated colony in Cape Town, also about 8 have been found in Lephalale, Limpopo Province at the Medupi Power Station during construction), Madagascar, the Comoro Islands, Mauritius, the Mascarene Islands and the Seychelles.

R. braminus

In Asia it occurs in Arabia, Iran, Pakistan, Nepal, mainland India, the Maldives, the Lakshadweep Islands, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh, the Andaman Islands, the Nicobar Islands, Myanmar, Thailand, Laos, Cambodia, Vietnam, the Ryukyu Islands of Okinawashima and Miyakoshima, Taiwan, Hong Kong, southern China, Hainan, the Malay Peninsula, the Maritime Southeast Asia including Singapore, Sumatra and nearby islands (the Riao Archipelago, Bangka, Billiton and Nias), Borneo, Sulawesi, the Philippines, Butung, Salajar, Ternate, Halmahera, Buru, Ceram, Ambon, Saparua, Java, Bali, Lombok, Sumbawa, Madura, Flores, Lomblen, Sumba, Timor, Kai Island, the Aru Islands (requires confirmation according to McDowell, 1974:25), New Guinea (Irian Jaya and Papua New Guinea), New Britain and Bougainville Island. In Australia in the Northern Territory near Darwin and the northern tip of Queensland). It occurs in the Cocos (Keeling) Islands, on Christmas Island, Palau, Guam, and Saipan. The Americas in the United States (California, Massachusetts, Florida, The Hawaiian Islands, Texas and Louisiana), western and southern Mexico and Guatemala and in the Cayman Islands. The vertical distribution is from sea level to 1,200 m in Sri Lanka and up to 1,500 m in Guatemala. The type locality given is "Vizagapatam" [India].

This is also the only snake reported from Lakshadweep Islands.

Habitat

Usually occur in urban and agricultural areas. These snakes live underground in ant and termite nests. They are also found under logs, moist leaves and humus in wet forest, dry jungle and even city gardens. The distribution and survival of this group of snakes directly reflects soil humidity and temperature.

Feeding

Their diet consists of the larvae, eggs, and pupae of ants and termites.

Reproduction

This species is parthenogenetic and all specimens collected so far have been female. They lay eggs or may bear live young. Up to eight offspring are produced: all female and all genetically identical.

Further reading

• Annandale N. 1906. Notes on the fauna of a desert tract in southern India. Part I. Batrachians and reptiles, with remarks on the reptiles of the desert region of the North-West Frontier. Mem. Asiatic Soc. Bengal, Calcutta 1: 183-202.
• Boulenger GA. 1893. Catalogue of the Snakes in the British Museum (Natural History). Volume I., Containing the Families Typhlopidæ ... London: Trustees of the British Museum (Natural History). (Taylor and Francis, printers). xiii + 448 pp. + Plates I-XXVIII. (Typhlops braminus, pp. 16–17).
• Daudin FM. 1802. Histoire Naturelle, Générale et Particulière des Reptiles. Tome septième [Volume 7]. Paris: F. Dufart. 436 pp.
• Hedges SB, Marion AB, Lipp KM, Marin J, Vidal N. 2014. A taxonomic framework for typhlopid snakes from the Caribbean and other regions (Reptilia, Squamata). Caribbean Herpetology (49): 1-61. (Indotyphlops braminus, new combination).
• Jones GS, Thomas LA, Wong K. 1995. "Ramphotyphlops braminus ". Herpetological Review 26 (4):210-211.
• Kelaart EF. 1854. Catalogue of reptiles collected in Ceylon. Ann. Mag. Nat. Hist., Second Series 13: 137-140.
• Kraus F, Carvalho D. 2001. The Risk to Hawai'i from Snakes. Pacific Science 55 (4): 409-417. PDF at University of Hawai'i press. Accessed 20 April 2008.
• Nussbaum RA. 1980. The brahminy blind snake (Ramphotyphlops braminus) in the Seychelles Archipelago: Distribution, variation, and further evidence for parthenogenesis. Herpetologica 36 (3): 215-221.
• Oliver JA, Shaw CE. 1953. The amphibians and reptiles of the Hawaiian Islands. Zoologica, New York 38 (5): 65-95.
• O'Shea M, Halliday T. 2002. Smithsonian Handbooks: Reptiles and Amphibians. London: DK Publishing. 256 pp. ISBN 0-7894-9393-4.
• Ota H, Hikida T, Matsui M, Mori A, Wynn AH. 1991. Morphological variation, karyotype and reproduction of the parthenogenetic blind snake, Ramphotyphlops braminus, from the insular region of East Asia and Saipan. Amphibia-Reptilia 12: 181-193.
• Owen R, Bowman DT Jr, Johnson SA. 1998. "Geographic Distribution. Ramphotyphlops braminus ". Herpetological Review 29 (2): 115.
• Palmer, DD and RN Fisher. 2010. "Geographic Distribution. Ramphotyphlops braminus ". Herpetological Review 41 (4): 518.
• Thomas LA. 1997. "Geographic Distribution. Ramphotyphlops braminus ". Herpetological Review 28 (2): 98.
• Vijayakumar SP, David P. 2006. Taxonomy, Natural History, And Distribution Of The Snakes Of The Nicobar Islands (INDIA), Based On New Materials And With An Emphasis On Endemic Species. Russian Journal of Herpetology 13 (1): 11 – 40.
• Wall F. 1919. Notes on a collection of Snakes made in the Nilgiri Hills and the adjacent Wynaad. J. Bombay Nat. Hist. Soc. 26: 552-584.
• Wallach V. 1999. "Geographic distribution: Ramphotyphlops braminus ". Herpetological Review 30 (4): 236.
• Wynn AH, Cole CJ, Gardner AL. 1987. "Apparent Triploidy in the Unisexual Brahminy Blind Snake, Ramphotyphlops braminus ". American Museum Novitates 2868: 1-7.

External links

• Ramphotyphlops braminus at the Reptarium.cz Reptile Database. Accessed 30 August 2007.
• Image of Ramphotyphlops braminus at the Institute of Toxicology and Genetics. Accessed 30 August 2007.
• Ramphotyphlops braminus at Snakes of Japan. Accessed 30 August 2007.
• Ramphotyphlops braminus at WildHerps.com. Accessed 30 August 2007.
• R. braminus at ThailandSnakes.com. Accessed 22 December 2014.