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| Photo credit: DMM Mendes |
The majority of coral
snakes are terrestrial/fossorial species, but the Suriname Coral Snake (Micrurus surinamensis) and the Ribbon
Coral Snake (Micrurus lemniscatus)
use shallow water, swampy habitats for foraging for food. Like other coral
snakes they tend to feed on small, elongated prey. Their diet includes invertebrates,
lizards, amphibians, fish, and other snakes. The Ribbon Coral Snake (Micrurus lemniscatus) is a known predator
of caecilians, amphisbaenians, and blind snakes. In a recent note Viana and de Mello Mendes (2015) document the first recorded predation of the two-lined
caecilian, Rhinatrema bivittatum, in
central Amazon. The snake bit the caecilian at mid-body, held on to it for
about five minutes (probably to inject venom). The snake then released the prey
and crawled to a sheltered site about 30 cm away. After five minutes the snake
returned to the caecilian struck it several times with little response from the
amphibian, the coral snake then ingested the prey.
Photos
by DMM Mendes