Amphiesma

For the cell covering of dinoflagellates, see Amphiesma (dinoflagellates).

Amphiesma (keelbacks)
Amphiesma stolatum
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Chordata
Subphylum:	Vertebrata
Class:	Reptilia
Order:	Squamata
Suborder:	Serpentes
Family:	Colubridae
Subfamily:	Natricinae
Genus:	Amphiesma A.M.C. Duméril, Bibron, & A.H.A. Duméril, 1854

Amphiesma is a genus of colubrid snakes, commonly known as keelbacks because of their keeled dorsal scales. They are all nonvenomous.

Geographic range

Amphiesma species occur in southern and eastern Asia, including Siberia, Korea, China, the Indian subcontinent, Indochina, Southeast Asia, Japan, and Indonesia.

Species

The following 42 species are recognized:

• Amphiesma andreae Ziegler & Le, 2006 - Andrea's keelback
• Amphiesma arguus David & Vogel, 2010
• Amphiesma atemporale (Bourret, 1934)
• Amphiesma beddomei (Günther, 1864) - Nilgiri keelback
• Amphiesma bitaeniatum (Wall, 1925)
• Amphiesma boulengeri (Gressitt, 1937)
• Amphiesma celebicum (W. Peters & Doria, 1878)
• Amphiesma concelarum Malnate, 1963
• Amphiesma craspedogaster (Boulenger, 1899)
• Amphiesma deschauenseei (Taylor, 1934)
• Amphiesma flavifrons (Boulenger, 1887) - white-fronted water snake
• Amphiesma frenatum Dunn, 1923
• Amphiesma groundwateri (M.A. Smith, 1922)
• Amphiesma inas (Laidlaw, 1901)
• Amphiesma ishigakiense (Malnate & Munstermann, 1960)
• Amphiesma johannis (Boulenger, 1908)
• Amphiesma kerinciense David & Das, 2003
• Amphiesma khasiense (Boulenger, 1890) - Khasi Hills keelback
• Amphiesma leucomystax David et al., 2007 - white-lipped keelback
• Amphiesma metusia Inger et al., 1990
• Amphiesma miyajimae (Maki, 1931)
• Amphiesma modestum (Günther, 1875) - modest keelback
• Amphiesma monticola (Jerdon, 1853) - hill keelback or Wayanad keelback
• Amphiesma nicobariense (Sclater, 1891) - Nicobar Island keelback
• Amphiesma octolineatum (Boulenger, 1904)
• Amphiesma optatum (Hu & Zhao, 1966)
• Amphiesma parallelum (Boulenger, 1890) - Yunnan keelback
• Amphiesma pealii (Sclater, 1891) - Assam keelback
• Amphiesma petersii (Boulenger, 1893)
• Amphiesma platyceps (Blyth, 1854) - Himalayan keelback
• Amphiesma popei (Schmidt, 1925)
• Amphiesma pryeri (Boulenger, 1887)
• Amphiesma sanguineum (Smedley, 1931)
• Amphiesma sarasinorum (Boulenger, 1896)
• Amphiesma sarawacense (Günther, 1872)
• Amphiesma sauteri (Boulenger, 1909)
• Amphiesma sieboldii (Günther, 1860) - Sikkim keelback
• Amphiesma stolatum (Linnaeus, 1758) - buff striped keelback
• Amphiesma venningi (Wall, 1910)
• Amphiesma vibakari (H. Boie, 1826) - Asian keelback
• Amphiesma viperinum (Schenkel, 1901)
• Amphiesma xenura (Wall, 1907) - Wall's keelback

Sources

• A Quick Guide to the Colubridae