Painted Coral Snake

Fascinating facts about the Painted Coral Snake

• A painted coral snake can grow to a total length of 98 cm (39 in), but most are closer to 65–85 cm (26–33 in).
• The painted coral snake has 15–27 (usually 17–21) narrow black rings with white borders separating wide red bands, and the tail has 3–8 alternating black and yellow rings.
• Females lay up to 15 eggs, and the species occurs from sea level to 500 m (1,600 ft) in Brazil, Argentina, and Paraguay.
• When researchers milked live snakes, they collected an average of 10–12 mg of venom, about twice the lethal dose estimated for a human (6–8 mg). The maximum haul of 65 mg could theoretically end the lives of 5–6 people, underscoring how a tiny drop of this neurotoxic brew can be deadly.
• The venom’s LD50 is a staggering 0.007 mg for a 5–27 g mouse, meaning just a fraction of a milligram can kill a tiny rodent. This extreme potency, driven by alpha-neurotoxins that flood muscles with acetylcholine while blocking nerve signals, reveals why coral snakes, though only 1 % of snakebite cases, remain a serious medical concern.

At a glance

About the Painted Coral Snake

The painted coral snake, Micrurus corallinus, is a striking medium-sized elapid that dazzles with a tri-color banding of wide red rings edged by narrow black rings with white borders, and a tail tipped with three to eight alternating black and yellow rings. Adults typically reach 65–85 cm, though some approach 98 cm, and their sleek, smooth scales give them a glossy sheen. Their heads are black with a subtle white or yellow band across the posterior parietals, while the eyes are modest with round pupils, and the body tapers to a short tail, moderately short in males, very short in females. By night they glide through leaf litter, under logs and stones along coastal and forested lowlands up to 500 m, hunting a diet of caecilians, amphisbaenids, lizards (including gymnophthalmids), and even other snakes such as colubrids. A surprising trait lies in their venom: beyond the classic neurotoxic alpha-neurotoxins, it contains a cocktail of three-finger toxins, phospholipase A₂, and other enzymes that trigger a massive acetylcholine release before blocking neuromuscular transmission, a dual action rarely seen in other coral snakes. Found across Brazil’s Rio Grande do Sul, Rio Grande do Norte, Bahia, Santa Catarina, and Espírito Santo, as well as Misiones in Argentina and Paraguay, this nocturnal predator thrives in the Amazon basin’s tropical deciduous and evergreen forests. Though not aggressive toward humans, its venom is potent, laboratory milking yields 10–12 mg on average, roughly twice the lethal dose for an adult, and a single 65 mg extraction could kill five to six people. The species reproduces oviparously, with females laying up to 15 eggs, ensuring its continued presence in the leaf-laden understory where its vivid colors serve both warning and camouflage.

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