Suborder Serpentes Subfamily Pareatinae Order Scaled reptiles | Subphylum Vertebrata Family Colubridae Genus Pareas Phylum Chordata Rank Species | |
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Similar Pareas, Dipsas, Dipsas indica, Pareatinae, Dipsas variegata | ||
Iwasaki's snail-eater, Pareas iwasakii, is a species of snake in the family Colubridae. The species is endemic to the Yaeyama Islands in the southern Ryukyu Islands, Japan.
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Etymology
The specific name, iwasakii, is in honor of Japanese meteorologist Takuji Iwasaki.
Ecology
Pareas iwasakii is a snail-eating specialist; even newly hatched individuals feed on snails. It has asymmetric jaws, which facilitates feeding on snails with dextral (clockwise coiled) shells. A consequence of this asymmetry is that Pareas iwasakii is much less adept at preying on sinistral (counterclockwise coiled) snails.
Taxonomy
Originally described as Amblycephalus formosensis iwasakii by MoichirÅ Maki, it is currently placed in the genus Pareas.
References
Iwasaki's snail-eater Wikipedia(Text) CC BY-SA