Range: Pacific and Atlantic slopes of southern Mexico (Oaxaca and Veracruz) and Belize, through Pacific coast of Honduras

 

The “slender threadsnake” or Agujilla is a species of primarily Pacific slopes in northern Central America, relatively common and commonly encountered compared to its relatives but still sparse on information. It grows to approximately 16 cm in length, with an extremely slender and uniformly cylindric build. The head is barely broader than the neck, with a very blunt rounded snout bearing a large rostral scale and moderately large ovular eyes. The tail is short and blunt, tapering slightly near the tip down to a short spine. Dorsal scale count could not be found, but known to be greater than 250 and may be more than 300-350; scale row count is 14 reduced to 10 caudally. Coloration is a relatively pale tan to brown dorsally, with 3 very dark brown to black stripes made of triangular scale-edge spots running down the back, flanked by a lighter lateral stripe. Ventral surface is paler and unmarked, grayish to brown. A large but narrow cream to yellow blotch is also usually present and sits  on the rostral scale, sometimes other pale marks just behind the eyes extending from the lower jaw, and a large ventro-caudal blotch is also present that just barely comes up over the top of the tail tip.

This species can be separated from its relatives by the relatively pale coloration, a rostral scale not fused with the frontal scale (between the eyes behind the prefrontals), large ovular eyes, and a large ventral caudal blotch.

 

Habitat: primarily Pacific slope dry tropical forest, extending into Atlantic Yucatan region forests, and from nearly sea level to at least several hundred meters in elevation. Likely found under debris, logs, and leaf litter or in termite nests.

 

Prey: likely small soft-bodied invertebrates such as ant and termite larvae.

 

Lifespan and reproduction: lifespan unknown, likely under 10 years. Oviparous.

 

Sources: https://www.inaturalist.org/photos/20546332 Alvaro Monter Pozos under https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/

https://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/page/4133039#page/44/mode/1up

https://reptile-database.reptarium.cz/species?genus=Epictia&species=phenops

https://www.inaturalist.org/taxa/539655-Epictia-phenops

Wallach, V. 2016. Morphological review and taxonomic status of the Epictia phenops species group of Mesoamerica, with description of six new species and discussion of South American Epictia albifrons, E. goudotii, and E. tenella (Serpentes Leptotyphloptidae: Epictinae). Mesoamerican Herpetology 3: 216–374.