Craspedocephalus puniceus (Boie, 1827)

Scientific Name

This species has the scientific name Craspedocephalus puniceus (Boie, 1827).

General Length

Adult Craspedocephalus puniceus may reach a total length of 64 cm (25 in), including a 9 cm (3.5 in) prehensile tail.

Dorsal Coloration

Dorsally, C. puniceus is gray, brown, or red, marked with dark blotches or crossbars that can merge to form an undulating stripe.

Head Markings

A light streak sits on each side of the head, behind the eye.

Ventral Coloration

Ventrally, the body is powdered with dark brown, and usually has a lateral series of yellowish spots.

Sexual Size Dimorphism

Total body length of Craspedocephalus puniceus differs by gender: adult males range from 60 to 70 cm in total length, while adult females range from 100 to 130 cm in total length.

Scale Count Details

Scalation details: midbody has 21–23 rows of dorsal scales, 158–173 ventral scales, 41–56 subcaudal scales, and 10–13 supralabial scales.

Scale Morphology

The dorsal scales are weakly keeled, and the anal plate is entire.

Geographical Distribution

This species is found in southern Thailand, West and East Malaysia (including Sabah and Sarawak), and Indonesia (including Borneo, Sumatra, the Mentawai Islands of Siberut and North Pagai, Simalur, and Java).

Type Locality

Its given type locality is "Java".