Species information
Scientific name: Protobothrops tokarensis
Japanese name: トカラハブ
Chinese name: 寶島原矛頭蝮
English name: Tokara habu
Origin: Takarajima and Kodakarajima in the Tokara Islands
Ecology and description
The Tokara habu is endemic to Takarajima and Kodakarajima. The Watase Line, a boundary in biogeography, lies between Kodakarajima and Akusekijima, and the range of the genus Protobothrops ends there. This species is only 70–120cm long, smaller than Protobothrops flavoviridis, which lives in the Okinawa Islands and the Amami Islands, and its venom is weaker. Even so, it can still endanger the lives of residents on remote islands with scarce medical resources, so residents kill the snakes when they find them.
This species has two color forms, a pale form and a dark form. During one night of observation, I found four pale-form and two dark-form individuals.
References: The Reptile Database (Protobothrops tokarensis)
Field photographs taken during our tours, with observation dates
