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speciesGerardia prevostianaandEnhydrina sieboldiare uncommon. The
former, a small grey orbrown snake about 60 cm. in length is usually seen
along the coastand tidal rivers. The latter, a whitish or buff snake with
spots of darkbrown has been recorded from Bombay. It grows to about 90
cm. inlength.
The family Elapidac includes all the poisonous snakes, other
thanvipers, whose bite could be fatal to man. The fangs, which are
canaliculate, are placed at the front end of the mouth. The elapids arefound
throughout the tropical and the subtropical regions of the world.Four
genera occur in India and all are represented in
Maharashtra,BungarusKraits,CallophisCoral snakes,Najacobra
andOphiophagusKing cobra.
The Common Krait,Bungarus caeruleus,(Marathi—Manyar) iswidely
distributed. A lustrous blue black or black snake, white barredon the back.
Grows to over 1.3 metre in length. Not uncommonnear human habitation.
Feeds largely on other snakes and is activeat night. The poison is a
neurotoxin and kills through paralyses ofrespiratory centres. The poison is
also haemotoxic leading to severeinternal haemorrhage. The poison is
considered to be four to fivetimes more virulent than cobra venom. The
Banded KraitBungarusfasciatusis likely to occur in eastern Vidarbha. A
handsome blackand yellow banded snake, larger and longer than the
Common Krait,but equally poisonous. No record yet of its biting people.
The Coral Snakes are small, less than 60 cm. and beautifully
marked.Sluggish and gentle by nature, though poisonous, they arc not
knownto bite. Feed on other snakes. Two species occur in
Maharashtra.Callophis melanurusscarcely exceeding 1 foot in length is
chestnutabove, each scale with a brown or black spot. Head and nape
black,tail black banded. Ventrally red, crimson towards the
tail.Callophisnigrescens,a hill form is blackish or greenish-blue above with
3 to5 black stripes. It occurs along the Western Ghats as far north
asPanchgani (near Mahabaleshwar).
FAUNA 637