Mussurana (Chonta)

Description:

Chonta in Spanish, Pengku in Achuar and Sua in Shuar, this is a really beautiful snake and one of my favorites. They are rear-fanged snakes that commonly grow to 2 meters, according to most records, however one has to remember that is snout-cloaca length and doesn’t include the long, whip-like tail. I have measured several longer than that including 2 that measured a full 3 meters total body length. The larger ones can measure 8-10 inches around. An example of one of these larger ones is the snake in my profile picture. When hatched, the young are red (foto #3) with a black head, white neck band and white stomach (foto #4). As they grow the body becomes increasingly darker (foto #5) until they are coal black with a white stomach.

Habitat:

The snakes in the above fotos were found in secondary jungle in the Amazon rainforest of SE Ecuador (700 masl).

Notes:

This is an important snake to preserve for jungle folk as it is the sworn enemy of the snakes in the Bothrops genus, especially the abundant Bothrops atrox. I included one of my earliest pictures (foto #6) of a Clelia killing a Bothrops atrox. Unfortunately, my camera back then wasn’t so good, but you can still clearly see that the B. atrox has sunk his fangs into the Clelia. I’ve come to learn that the Clelia is completely immune to the venom of other snakes in the region. I have had “limited” success in teaching the native population that the only good snake isn’t necessarily a dead one.