This beautiful reptile, from the Qbajjar area in Western Gozo, is a juvenile specimen of the Western Whip Snake, Hierophis viridiflavus (Lacépède, 1789). It shows a different colour than sexually mature adults, which are of an intense black colour (P. J. Schembri, pers. comm. III.2010).
Beautiful creature!
ReplyDeleteVery pretty snake. Are they endemic to Malta?
ReplyDeleteNuimul
No endemic snakes in Malta, this one is native to the north Mediterranean/ south continental Europe.
ReplyDeleteThere are 4 species of Snake in the Maltese Islands. The snake in the photograph is an immature Western Whip Snake circa 12 - 18 months old
ReplyDeleteWestern Whip Snake (Hierophis viridiflavus)
Endemic and found on Malta, Gozo and Comino
Leopard Snake (Zamenis situla)
Endemic and found on Malta. Recent verified records from Gozo
Cat Snake (Telescopus fallax)
Naturalised (Since circa late 19th Century) and found on Malta. Recent verified record from Gozo
Algerian Whip Snake (Hemorrhois algirus)
Naturalised (Since circa late 19th Century). Confined to Malta - most especially Valletta and Floriana but range is slowly expanding.
In 2022, my daughter will be undertaking an MSc research thesis on the distribution of the 4 snake species found in the Maltese Islands
Cheers
Nick