Mussurana Snake

“It eats the fer-de-lance but is harmless to people.”

The mussurana is a colubrid, and like many colubrid’s, it’s not the flashiest of snakes. Though mussurana babies begin life as colorful, they grow to be long, slender snakes in shades of gray, brown or black. What sets mussuranas apart is that they’re immune to the venom of vipers such as the fer-de-lance, one of the most feared snakes in the New World. This is a good thing, for the mussurana has the fer-de-lance on the menu. As it swallows, the mussurana mashes the snake into a wave so that it can fit into its narrow GI tract.

Mussurana Amazing Facts

Here are five amazing facts about mussuranas.

• The mussurana uses a rear-fang technique to catch its prey. They use the two fangs at the back of their mouth to hold on to the prey’s head before they swallow it.
• Other names the snake goes by are zopilota, cribo, moon snake and pseudoboa.
• Many South and Central American farmers keep the snake as a pet so it can eat dangerous pit vipers whose bites kill livestock. The mussurana also helps keep down the population of vermin such as rats and mice.
• The snake is considered mild-mannered when it comes to humans and is hesitant to bite even when it’s picked up.
• Because it is immune to fer-de-lance venom, São Paulo’s Instituto Butantan honored the snake with a statue. The institute is famous for developing antivenoms and other biopharmaceuticals.

Where To Find Mussuranas

Mussuranas are only found in Mexico and Central and South America. They prefer a habitat that has dense vegetation, either a dense forest or dense shrubbery.

Mussurana Scientific Name

Mussurana snakes belong to the Clelia genus. Clelia comes from the Latin word cluere and means “famous or renown.” It was the name of a Roman girl given to an Etruscan soldier as a prize. She escaped him by swimming all the way across the Tiber river. There are six extant species of mussurana. They are:

1. Clelia Clelia
2. Clelia equatoriana
3. Clelia hussami
4. Clelia langeri
5. Clelia plumbea
6. Clelia scytalina

Another species, C. errabunda, Underwood’s mussurana was found only on St. Lucia in the Caribbean and is now considered extinct.

The Different Types of Mussurana

The elusiveness of the species of mussurana makes them hard to study. They can be told apart by where they’re found, and their colors, patterning and size may differ from one species to the next. For example, C. clelia can grow as long as 6.9 feet. It is black or gray on top and yellowish-white on the bottom, and its babies have black heads, a yellow collar around the neck and pale brown or red bodies. C. clelia has two subspecies, C. clelia clelia and C. clelia groomei. It’s found in Central America down to northern Argentina.

C. plumbea is found in Paraguay and Brazil. It resembles C. clelia but has more ventral scales and has a line that separates the scales on the abdomen from the scales on the sides of the body.

C. scytalina, or the Mexican snake eater is found in the south of Mexico, Central America and down to Colombia. It resembles C. clelia, but juvenile snakes resemble venomous coral snakes and are sometimes killed because of it.

Mussurana Population & Conservation Status 

Conservationists aren’t sure of the population of mussuranas, but according to the IUCN list of endangered species, the status of C. clelia is least concern and C. errabunda is extinct. Other types of mussurana have become rare because their prey is becoming scarce.

How To Identify Mussurana: Appearance and Description 

Mussuranas are large, slender snakes whose adults are black, brown or dark blue on top and whitish-yellow ventrally. Their heads are distinct from their necks, and they have round snouts. These snakes have medium-sized eyes with cat-like pupils, and they have smooth scales on their backs. Their juveniles are often pink, with light-colored collars.

Mussuranas have teeth at the front of their upper jaws but also have rear-fangs, called opisthoglyphous teeth. They help the snake hold its snake prey by the head, the better to subdue and swallow it. All mussurana snakes lay eggs, and they may be nocturnal or diurnal depending on where they live.

Mussuranas breed in early March, and after mating the female lays nine to 25 eggs that hatch after three to four months.

Mussurana Venom: How Dangerous Are They?

Mussurana venom is so weak that some people do not believe the snakes are venomous at all. They are docile snakes and don’t typically bite even when picked up. Even when they do bite, the effects are mild. If the person is sure that they’ve been bitten by a mussurana, regular wound care is in order. If they don’t know what kind of snake bit them, they should seek medical attention quickly.

Mussurana Behavior and Humans

Though mussurana aren’t show-stopping snakes, people sometimes keep them as pets. Farmers tolerate them where they keep down the number of rats, mice and severely venomous snakes such as fer-de-lances and other vipers. As pets, their care gets expensive, as they can grow relatively large. They’ll need very large enclosures whose temperatures to be controlled. On top of this, some of mussuranas will only take live snakes as food.

Next Up

• Amazon tree boa
• Indigo snake
• Boa constrictor

1. , Available here: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mussurana
2. , Available here: https://www.itis.gov/servlet/SingleRpt/SingleRpt?search_topic=TSN&search_value=209463#null
3. , Available here: https://reptile-database.reptarium.cz/species?genus=Clelia&species=clelia
4. , Available here: https://kidadl.com/animal-facts/mussurana-facts
5. , Available here: http://www.toxinology.com/fusebox.cfm?fuseaction=main.snakes.display&id=SN1191