The Flickr Mussurana Image Generatr

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The Mussurana Snake by critterscience

© critterscience, all rights reserved.

The Mussurana Snake

The mussurana, aka musurana, is the common name of a group of snake hunting serpents. There are 7 known species of these snakes. They are endemic to Central America and South America and some surrounding islands. Even though these snakes face the threat of habitat destruction, they are abundant but have a decreasing population throughout all their species. They are currently listed as Least Concern by the IUCN.

First the Stats...

Scientific name: Clelia
Weight: Up to 6.3 lbs.
Length: Up to 8.2 feet
Lifespan: Up to 12 years

Now on to the Facts!

1.) Mussuranas engage in ophiophagy (snake eating).

2.) These snakes prey on mice, rats, and lizards and use venom to kill these creatures. They also prey on a variety of snakes, including venomous pit vipers and utilize constriction to kill these animals.

3.) They also go by the names zopilota and cribo.

4.) The mussurana has between 10 - 15 teeth on their upper jaw, followed by 2 enlarged rear fangs, in the back of the jaw. These rear teeth are hollow and used to deliver venom.

5.) These 2 larger back teeth are also used to help push prey into their stomach.

But wait, there's more on the mussurana!

6.) Due to the fact that they utilize both venom and constriction they are called pseudoboas.

7.) Even though they are venomous and lethal to rodents, their venom poses no threat to humans or larger animals, if bitten. They are reluctant to bite, when being handled, anyway.
Did you know...?
Mussuranas

critter.science/the-mussurana-snake/

Mussurana bicolor by JRochester

© JRochester, all rights reserved.

Mussurana bicolor

Brazil 2022

Chonta or Mussurana snake, Colombia by planetphoton

© planetphoton, all rights reserved.

Chonta or Mussurana snake, Colombia

Pablo and Chonta Snake by planetphoton

© planetphoton, all rights reserved.

Pablo and Chonta Snake

These snakes can grow to over 2 meters long and they are appreciated because they eat other snakes, including poisonous ones.

Chonta or Mussurana snake by planetphoton

© planetphoton, all rights reserved.

Chonta or Mussurana snake

Pablo saw this Chonta snake on the trail after the other 6 of us walked past it. It was about 4 feet long - a younger snake. We have seen much larger Black Mussurana snakes in Costa Rica and the Peruvian Amazon. They are usually not dangerous to humans and feed on other snakes, even poisonous vipers.

Mussurana bicolor by Matthieu Berroneau

© Matthieu Berroneau, all rights reserved.

Mussurana bicolor by Matthieu Berroneau

© Matthieu Berroneau, all rights reserved.

Mussurana bicolor by Matthieu Berroneau

© Matthieu Berroneau, all rights reserved.

Clelia clelia (Mussurana) by Kenny Wray

© Kenny Wray, all rights reserved.

Clelia clelia (Mussurana)

An adult Mussurana from Project Amazonas' Santa Cruz Forest Reserve, Loreto, Peru. These large, rear-fanged snakes primarily prey on other species of snakes. They are immune to the venom of viperids, similar to the kingsnakes/milksnakes (Lampropeltis) and indigo/cribos (Drymarchon).

Clelia clelia (Mussurana) by Kenny Wray

© Kenny Wray, all rights reserved.

Clelia clelia (Mussurana)

An adult Mussurana from Project Amazonas' Santa Cruz Forest Reserve, Loreto, Peru. As juveniles, these snakes are bright red with a back head and white collar. This coloration quickly gives way to the solid gray black seen in this specimen. However, because of this color change, this species is often confused with several other species of Amazonian snakes, particularly Pseudoboa spp.. This was the first verified record for this species from Santa Cruz Forest Reserve.

Clelia clelia (Mussurana) by Kenny Wray

© Kenny Wray, all rights reserved.

Clelia clelia (Mussurana)

An adult Mussurana from Project Amazonas' Santa Cruz Forest Reserve, Loreto, Peru. This snake was among the most difficult snakes I have ever tried to photograph. These are the three best shots during the 90 minutes I spent trying to photograph the animal.

Mussurana (Clelia equatoriana) by Jacobo Quero

© Jacobo Quero, all rights reserved.

Mussurana (Clelia equatoriana)

Fotografiada en Tandayapa, Ecuador

Clelia equatoriana by Primeval Nature

© Primeval Nature, all rights reserved.

Clelia equatoriana

Easily the most thrilling find during my 5 weeks at the Yellow House in Mindo in 2007: a massive Equatorial Mussurana, Clelia equatoriana. I found it stretched across a trail at dusk - and I remember laughing maniacally as I held the beast in my hands. I took it down to my cabin where I kept it for a couple of days, waiting for a clear evening on which to shoot. Back in the forest, when I placed the beauty before the camera it shrugged off its previous passivity and writhed madly. I was frantic. I'd had high hopes of shooting it at sunset, but the sun sinks awfully fast on the equator, and the presence of a camera seems to speed it further. Finally, the leaden* beauty becalmed, I opened the shutter - but, in my fluster, for almost twice as long as my initial calculations had called for! The sunset therefore registered only as a mere tinge of pink in the captured image, although my use of 3 strobes gave a nice flash exposure on the snake itself. I was disappointed - until years later, when new and better post-production tools enabled me to pull just a little more colour from that too-bright sky.

The 'mussuranas' of the genus Clelia** are formidable predators of other snakes, even pit-vipers, to whose venom they are immune. Prey is subdued by a combination of constriction and venom - these snakes are rear-fanged (opisthoglyphous). Despite the potential for a venomous bite, mussuranas seldom attempt to bite a human captor - perplexingly.

* María Elena Garzón had described the colour of the snake as 'plomo' - lead, when she and sister Inés María Garzón stopped by to admire it.

** 'Clelia' is the name of a character in Stendhal's 1839 novel The Charterhouse of Parma. Being a great fan of Stendhal, I've sometimes wondered whether there was a connection between the novel and the snake; however, it seems that the name 'Clelia' was applied to the type species (Coluber clelia DAUDIN 1803) some years prior to the release of that book.

All images © James A. Christensen/PrimevalNature.com

Please read my profile before making any request for use.

Unidentified 1.5m snake near water Ecuador Amazon. by Jim Scarff

© Jim Scarff, all rights reserved.

Unidentified 1.5m snake near water Ecuador Amazon.

One person suggested to me this might be a Moussaran (Clelia clelia) subadult, but the coloration and lack of white on the belly does not seem to fit. Sani Lodge, Napo River, Ecuador

Unidentified 1.5m snake near water Ecuador Amazon. by Jim Scarff

© Jim Scarff, all rights reserved.

Unidentified 1.5m snake near water Ecuador Amazon.

One person suggested to me this might be a Moussaran (Clelia clelia) subadult, but the coloration and lack of white on the belly does not seem to fit. Sani Lodge, Napo River, Ecuador

Clelia clelia by Kevin Stohlgren

© Kevin Stohlgren, all rights reserved.

Clelia clelia

Mussurana. Piro Research Station. Osa Peninsula, Costa Rica.

Clelia clelia by Kevin Stohlgren

© Kevin Stohlgren, all rights reserved.

Clelia clelia

Mussurana. Piro Research Station. Osa Peninsula, Costa Rica.

Clelia eating Fer-de-Lance by calcatstirzaker

© calcatstirzaker, all rights reserved.

Clelia eating Fer-de-Lance

After spending 4 days inside the Manu National Park reserved zone, we were heading home up the Rio Madre de Dios (Mother of God River). The deck hand then spots a snake swimming across the river. It was the Clelia - a non-venomous snake from the region.

One of the tourists on our boat is a snake lover, so we naturally turn to go ashore and walk up in a hope to see the snake closer. It was about 1.5m-1.7m in length and is totally ignoring us. It ends up going inside of the roots of a washed up tree.

Not satisfied, the crew wanted to see the snake more and hoped to coax it out of its hiding spot. Or so we thought. A couple of minutes later and it emerges from the tree stump and is wrestling with another snake!! It was amazing and the highlight of the trip to the Amazon.

For the next 10mins we watched as it ate the 1.2m long Pit Viper (venomous) head-first one swallow at a time before it disappeared and we went on our way.

Clelia (Mussurana) eating Fer-de-Lance (Pit Viper) - Manu National Park, Peru

Clelia equatoriana by Primeval Nature

© Primeval Nature, all rights reserved.

Clelia equatoriana

Equatorial Mussurana, Clelia equatoriana, a rare nocturnal predator of other snakes, including pit-vipers. The rear-fanged snakes of the genus Clelia employ a combination of constriction and envenomation to subdue their prey, and are immune to the venom of pit-vipers.

El Séptimo Paraiso Cloud Forest Reserve, Mindo, Ecuador

www.septimoparaiso.com/

All images © James A. Christensen/PrimevalNature.com

Please read my profile before making any request for use.

Clelia clelia by Nathan Shepard

© Nathan Shepard, all rights reserved.

Clelia clelia

Esmeraldas Province, ECU: One of my most fondest memories of herping along the coast of Ecuador was this large and impressive Mussurana. We found this animal after we completed our normal transects and wanted to stomp around on our last real night in the field. We meandered up a creek for a bit before deciding to head back to camp, right when we turned this gorgeous snake crossed the creek in front of us. Not a bad way to end an awesome trip.