Small-spotted Coral Snake

The Small-spotted Coral Snake is a coral snake species native to the Pacific coastal lowlands of Mexico, ranging from Sinaloa south to Oaxaca. It displays the classic tricolor ringed pattern shared by many New World coral snakes.

While venomous and capable of delivering a medically significant bite, it is a shy, fossorial species that rarely encounters humans, spending most of its time hidden underground or beneath surface debris.

• Tricolor banding pattern of red, black, and yellow or white rings encircling the body
• Black snout typically tipped with a pale band just behind it
• Smooth, glossy scales and a cylindrical body with a short tail
• Small head barely distinct from the neck, with round pupils
• Ring pattern and sequence should not be relied upon alone to distinguish from harmless mimics without expert knowledge

Found in tropical deciduous forest and thorn scrub along the Pacific coastal lowlands of Mexico, from Sinaloa south through Nayarit, Jalisco, Guerrero, and into Oaxaca.

Highly secretive and fossorial, spending most of its time underground or under leaf litter and rarely seen above ground except after rain or at night. Feeds mainly on other snakes and elongated reptiles such as skinks. Lays eggs. Bites to humans are rare given its reclusive habits.