Three-lined Snake, Atractus trilineatus (Family Dipsadidae)

Atractus trilineatus Wagler 1828
Rhabdosoma lineatum — Duméril & Bibron 1854: 105.
Rabdosoma trivirgatum Jan 1862.
Rabdosoma punctatovittatum Jan 1862.
Rabdosoma trivirgatum — Jan 1865.
Rabdosoma punctatovittatum — Jan 1865.
Rhabdosoma lineatum — Garman 1887: 280.

Syntypes: MNHN, now lost [Rabdosoma punctatovittatum]. Lectotype: RMNH 48, a 205 mm female, designated by Hoogmoed, 1982: 135. Type locality: Caracas, Distrito Federal, Venezuela.

Distribution. This is a lowland Guiana endemic known from northern Venezuela and the Guianas, and is present on both Trinidad and Tobago, and is known from the Bocas as well as Little Tobago.

Males are gray-brown, females are red.

Size. 350 mm SV L, 285 mm TL. Diagnosis. Snout and tail sharply pointed, dorsum brown-gray with three or four light lines; scales smooth in 15 rows at mid-body. Perhaps most easily confused with Atractus univittatus (only known from Tobago and main land Venezuela) which has 17 scale rows at midbody or Epictia tenella which has cycloid scales in 14 rows at mid-body.

Life history. A fossorial snake of forests and savannas as well as urban environments. Diet includes worms and insects. Reproduction. Females are known to lay 3–5 eggs, in March, May, and August suggesting it may reproduce year round. Defense behavior. The sharply pointed tail is used as a probe and can startle a potential predator. This snake is eaten by Erythrolamprus aesculapii and coral snakes.


Anonymous 2008. OPINION 2210 (Case 3365): Atractus Wagler, 1828 and Atractus trilineatus Wagler, 1828 (Reptilia, Serpentes): conserved. Bull. Zool. Nomencl. 65 (23):

Beebe, William 1946. Field notes on the snakes of Kartabo, British Guiana, and Caripito, Venezuela. Zoologica 31: 11-52

Boos, H.E.A. 2001. The snakes of Trinidad and Tobago. Texas A&M University Press, 270 pp.

Claessen, H. 2003. De slangen can de Guyana’s. Deel iv. Lacerta 61 (1): 19-27

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Garman, S. 1887. On West Indian reptiles in the Museum of Comparative Zoology at Cambridge, Mass. Proc. Amer. Philos. Soc. 24: 278-286.

Gorzula, Stefan & Senaris, J. Celsa 1999. In: Contribution to the herpetofauna of the Venezuelan Guayana. I: a data base. Scientia Guaianae, Caracas, No. 8 [1998], 269+ pp.; ISBN 980-6020-48-0

Hoogmoed, M. S. 1982. Nomenclatural problems relating to Atractus trilineatus Wagler, 1828. Zoologische Mededelingen Leiden 56 (10): 131-138

Hoogmoed, M.S. & J.M. Savage 2006. CASE 3365: Atractus Wagler, 1828 and Atractus trilineatus Wagler, 1828 (Reptilia, Serpentes): proposed precedence over Brachyura Kuhl, 1820 and Brachyorrhos kuhli Boie in Schlegel, 1826. Bull. Zool. Nomencl. 63 (1)

Hoogmoed, M.S.; Savage, J.M. 2007. Case 3365. Atractus Wagler, 1828 and Atractus trilineatus Wagler, 1828 (Reptilia, Serpentes): proposed conservation. Bulletin of Zoological Nomenclature 64 (1): 60-63

Jan, G. 1865. Iconographie générale des ophidiens. 11. Livraison. J.B. Bailière et Fils, Paris

Johnson, M.L. 1946. Herpetological Notes from Trinidad. Copeia 1946 (2): 108

Lancini AR. & Kornacker PM. 1989. Die Schlangen von Venezuela. Armitano Editores C.A., Caracas, 1-381

Lynn, W.G. 1959. Some Reptiles and Amphibians From Trinidad. Herpetologica 15 (3): 113-117

Martins M. Oliveira M E. 1993. The snakes of the genus Atractus Wagler (Reptilia: Squamata: Colubridae) from the Manaus region, central Amazonia, Brazil. Zool. Meded. 67 (1-26): 21-40.

Mertens, R. 1972. Herpetofauna tobagana. Stuttgarter Beitr. zur Naturkunde nr. 252 22 pp.

Passos, P. & Fernandes, R. 2008. A new species of the colubrid snake genus Atractus (Reptilia: Serpentes) from the central Amazon of Brazil. Zootaxa 1849: 59–66

Passos, P., R. Fernandes and Borges-Nojosa, D.M. 2007. A New Species of Atractus (Serpentes: Dipsadinae) from a Relictual Forest in Northeastern Brazil. Copeia 2007 (4): 788–797

Passos P. Ramos LO, Pinna PH, Prudente ALC 2013. Morphological variation and affinities of the poorly known snake Atractus caxiuana (Serpentes: Dipsadidae). Zootaxa 3745 (1): 035–048

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Roze JA 1961. El genero Atractus (Serpentes: Colubridae) en Venezuela. Acta Biologica Venezuelica 3 (7): 103-119

Wagler,J. 1828. Auszüge aus seinem Systema Amphibiorum. Isis von Oken 21: 740-744