SEAVR 2022: 012‐013
ISSN: 2424‐8525
Date of publication: 07 August 2022
Hosted online by ecologyasia.com

Ophiophagous behaviour of the Two‐lined Coral Snake Calliophis bilineatus
on Palawan Island, Philippines
Emerson Y. SY & Raymond V. GONZALES
emersonsy@gmail.com (Sy)Observers: Raymond V. Gonzales, Yuri May Bonifacio, Alex Espena Josue, Boy Alejandria.
Photograph by: Raymond V. Gonzales.
Subjects identified by: Emerson Y. Sy.
Location: Mount Mantalingajan, Municipality of Brooke’s Point, Palawan Island, Philippines.
Elevation: 1200 metres
Habitat: Primary, lower montane forest.
Date and time: 01 February 2016, 15:00 hrs.
Identity of subjects: Two‐lined Coral Snake, Calliophis bilineatus (Reptilia: Squamata: Serpentes).
Description of record:
A Two‐lined Coral Snake wasobserved along a small foottrail, biting a conspecific by theneck (Fig. 1). As the predator
wasdisturbedbytheobservers, it dragged thestruggling prey into an area
withdense
leaf
litter,intertwining
vines,andsaplings. The prey initiallyattempted to resist byanchoring
itstailonvines/saplings, but the biggerandstronger
predator
prevailed. Subsequently, theprey was motionless. The
event was observed for morethan two minutes before bothsnakes were obscured by leaf
litter and plants.

Fig. 1.

© Raymond V. Gonzales

12Remarks: The elapid snakes were identified as Calliophis bilineatus based on (i) head not distinct from neck, (ii)
prefrontal scales are cream in colour (typical individuals have orange prefrontals), (iii) a median black stripe fromfrontal to tail, covering three rows and two half rows of scales, (iv) a pair of yellow (typical colour is cream)
dorsolateral stripes, (v) ventral scales with alternating black bars, two‐ or three‐scale wide, (vi) narrow white lineon the sides, between ventral and body scales, and (vii) underside of tail is vivid reddish‐orange in colour (Taylor,1922). Calliophis bilineatus is endemic to the Philippines and is known to occur on the islands of Balabac,Busuanga, Calauit, Culion, and Palawan (Taylor, 1922; Leviton, 1963).
Calliophis bilineatus was formerly considered a subspecies of Calliophis intestinalis (Leviton, 1963; Alcala, 1986),
however, we follow Leviton et al. (2014) in treating it as a distinct species. Ophiophagous behaviour has been
documented in Calliophis intestinalis (Das, 2010) and among Philippine snakes, King Cobra Ophiophagus hannah,
Double‐barred Coral Snake Hemibungarus gemianulis, Alcala’s Triangle‐spotted Snake Cyclocorus lineatus alcalai,
and Common Mock Viper Psammodynastes pulverulentus (Taylor, 1922; Langenberger, 2004; Gaulke, 2011).
Although the actual consumption of the snake was not observed, this note may be the first record of cannibalistic
and ophiophagous behaviour in Calliophis bilineatus.
Editor’s note: The yellow‐striped morph Calliophis bilineatus can easily be misidentified as Sibynophis bivittatus.
In the original document first published on 29 January 2018 (now withdrawn and deleted from servers), thepredator was misidentified as the latter species. This error is corrected here.
References:Alcala, A.C. (1986). Guide to Philippine flora and Fauna, Volume X. amphibians and reptiles. Natural Resources
Management Center and University of the Philippines, Quezon City, Philippines. xiv + 195 pp
Das, I. (2010). A Field Guide to the Reptiles of South‐east Asia. New Holland Publishers (UK) Ltd. 376 pp.
Gaulke, M. (2011). The herpetofauna of Panay Island, Philippines. Edition Chimaira, Frankfurt am Main. 390 pp.
Langenberger, G. (2004). Ophiophagus behavior in Psammodynastes pulverulentus in the Philippines. Hamadryad29(1): 140.
Leviton, A.E. (1963). Contribution to a review of Philippine snakes, III. The snakes of the genera Maticora andCalliophis. Philippine Journal of Science 92(4): 523‐550.
Leviton, A.E., Brown, R.M., and Siler, C.D. (2014). The dangerously venomous snakes of the PhilippineArchipelago, pp. 473‐ 530. In Williams, G.C. and Gosliner, M. (eds.). The Coral Triangle: The 2011 Hearst Philippine
biodiversity expedition. California Academy of Sciences, San Francisco, California.
Taylor, E.H. (1922). The snakes of the Philippine Islands. Department of Agriculture and Natural Resources andBureau of Science, Manila. 312 pp. + 37 plates.

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