📸 PhotoPhoto: Norman.benton · CC BY-SA 3.0 · Wikimedia Commons Source
Eastern Coral Snake
Micrurus fulvius (Eastern Coral Snake · Eastern Coral Snake)
💡 Everyday Comparisons for Size, Mass & Speed
- 💡 Its maximum length of 727 mm is roughly the length of an adult human arm (about 70 cm) (Comparison).
- 💡 Animal Diversity Web notes that this snake is sold illegally in the pet trade and that its complex neurotoxic venom is used in research on venom evolution and antivenom production.
Reference standards: coach bus ~12 m, mid-size car ~4.9 m, compact car ~1 t, basketball hoop 3.05 m, credit card 8.56 cm.
📖 1. Overview
The Eastern Coral Snake is a slender venomous snake living in forests and wetlands of southeastern North America, spending much of its time underground and beneath logs.
🦴 2. Anatomy & Morphology
Its slender body has repeating black and red bands separated by narrow yellow rings. A pair of fixed front fangs delivers venom, and its black snout and yellow band across the back of the head distinguish it from harmless species such as scarlet snakes.
🔍 3. Ecology & Behavior
It feeds mainly on other legless reptiles—snakes and legless lizards—as well as insects, amphibians, and mammals. Mating occurs from March to May, and females lay eggs in June–July.
🇰🇷 4. Connection to Korea
No direct record connecting this species to Korea has been found.
📚 Sources & References
- • IUCN Red List LC (2007) — https://www.iucnredlist.org/species/64025/12737582
- • IUCN Red List category LC — latest assessment at iucnredlist.org
- • catalogueoflife.org — 6RJM8
- • iucnredlist.org — 12737582
- • wikidata.org — Q1513945
- • commons.wikimedia.org — File:Coral 009.jpg
- • animaldiversity.org — Micrurus fulvius
- • Silhouette: PhyloPic — Titouan Montessuit · CC BY 4.0 (Congeneric silhouette — Microtus arvalis)
Recorded dimensions are widely cited representative estimates from public literature and may vary by study or specimen.