| Calamaria | |
|---|---|
| |
| Calamaria albiventer | |
Scientific classification 
| |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Class: | Reptilia |
| Order: | Squamata |
| Suborder: | Serpentes |
| Family: | Colubridae |
| Subfamily: | Calamariinae |
| Genus: | Calamaria F. Boie, 18271 |
| Species | |
Calamaria is a large genus of dwarf burrowing4 snakes5 of the family Colubridae. The genus contains 66 recognized species.6 The genus is endemic to Asia.7
Description
Species in the genus Calamaria share the following characteristics. The eight to 11 maxillary teeth are subequal; the anterior mandibular teeth are somewhat longer than the posterior ones. The head is not distinct from neck; the eye is small, with a round pupil; the nostril is pierced in a minute nasal scale. No loreal, internasal, or temporal scales are present; the preocular can be present or absent; the parietals contact the labials. The body is cylindrical, with smooth dorsal scales, without apical pits, in 13 rows. The tail is short; the subcaudals are paired.8
Species
The following 67 described species in the genus Calamaria are recognized as being valid.3
- Calamaria abramovi Orlov, 2009
- Calamaria abstrusa Inger & Marx, 1965 – Padang reed snake
- Calamaria acutirostris Boulenger, 1896 – pointed snout reed snake
- Calamaria albiventer (Gray, 1834) – white-bellied reed snake
- Calamaria alcalai Weinell, Leviton & R. Brown, 20209 – Alcala's reed snake
- Calamaria alidae Boulenger, 1920 – Bengkulu reed snake
- Calamaria andersoni Yang & Zheng, 2018 – Anderson's reed snake
- Calamaria apraeocularis M.A. Smith, 1927 – Apreocular reed snake
- Calamaria arcana Yeung, Lau & Yang, 2022 – Lingnan reed snake
- Calamaria banggaiensis Koch, Arida, McGuire, Iskander & Böhme, 2009 – Banggai reed snake
- Calamaria battersbyi Inger & Marx, 1965 – Battersby's reed snake
- Calamaria bicolor A.M.C. Duméril, Bibron & A.H.A. Duméril, 1854 – two-colored dwarf snake, bicoloured reed snake
- Calamaria bitorques W. Peters, 1872 – Luzon dwarf snake
- Calamaria boesemani Inger & Marx, 1965 – Boeseman's reed snake
- Calamaria borneensis Bleeker, 1860 – Bornean reed snake
- Calamaria brongersmai Inger & Marx, 1965 – Brongersma's reed snake10: 39
- Calamaria buchi Marx & Inger, 1955 – Dalat dwarf snake, Buch's reed snake
- Calamaria butonensis Howard & Gillespie, 2007
- Calamaria ceramensis De Rooij, 1913
- Calamaria concolor Orlov et al., 2010
- Calamaria crassa Lidth de Jeude, 1922 – thick reed snake
- Calamaria curta Boulenger, 1896 – dark-bellied reed snake
- Calamaria doederleini Gough, 1902 – Döderlein's reed snake
- Calamaria dominici Ziegler, Tran & T.Q. Nguyen, 2019 – Dominic's reed snake
- Calamaria eiselti Inger & Marx, 1965 – Eiselt's reed snake
- Calamaria everetti Boulenger, 1893 – Everett's reed snake
- Calamaria forcarti Inger & Marx, 1965 – Forcart's reed snake
- Calamaria gervaisii A.M.C. Duméril, Bibron & A.H.A. Duméril, 1854 – Gervais's worm snake, Philippine dwarf snake
- Calamaria gialaiensis Ziegler, V.S. Nguyen & T.Q. Nguyen, 2008 – Gia Lai reed snake
- Calamaria grabowskyi J.G. Fischer, 1885 – Grabowsky's reed snake
- Calamaria gracillima (Günther, 1872) – slender reed snake
- Calamaria griswoldi Loveridge, 1938 – dwarf reed snake, lined reed snake
- Calamaria hilleniusi Inger & Marx, 1965
- Calamaria ingeri Grismer, Kaiser & Yaakob, 2004
- Calamaria incredibilis Qi et al., 202611
- Calamaria javanica Boulenger, 1891 – Javanese reed snake
- Calamaria joloensis Taylor, 1922 – Jolo worm snake
- Calamaria lateralis Mocquard, 1890 – white-striped reed snake
- Calamaria lautensis De Rooij, 1917
- Calamaria leucogaster Bleeker, 1860 – Ampat Lawang dwarf snake
- Calamaria linnaei F. Boie, 1827 – Linne's dwarf snake
- Calamaria longirostris Howard & Gillespie, 2007
- Calamaria lovii Boulenger, 1887 – Lowi's reed snake
- Calamaria lumbricoidea F. Boie, 1827 – variable reed snake
- Calamaria lumholtzi Andersson, 1923 – Lumholz's reed snake
- Calamaria margaritophora Bleeker, 1860 – stripe-necked reed snake Bleeker's dwarf snake
- Calamaria mecheli Schenkel, 1901 – Mechel's reed snake
- Calamaria melanota Jan, 1862 – Kapuas reed snake
- Calamaria modesta A.M.C. Duméril, Bibron & A.H.A. Duméril, 1854
- Calamaria muelleri Boulenger, 1896 – Mueller's reed snake
- Calamaria nebulosa J.L. Lee, 2021 – clouded reed snake
- Calamaria nuchalis Boulenger, 1896 – narrow-headed reed snake
- Calamaria palavanensis Inger & Marx, 1965 – Palawan worm snake
- Calamaria pavimentata A.M.C. Duméril, Bibron & A.H.A. Duméril, 1854 – collared reed snake
- Calamaria pfefferi Stejneger, 1901 – Pfeffer's reed snake10: 205
- Calamaria prakkei Lidth de Jeude, 1893 – Prakke's reed snake
- Calamaria rebentischi Bleeker, 1860 – Rebentisch's reed snake
- Calamaria sangi T.Q. Nguyen, Koch & Ziegler, 2009 – Sang's reed snake
- Calamaria schlegeli A.M.C. Duméril, Bibron & A.H.A. Duméril, 1854 – pink-headed reed snake
- Calamaria schmidti Marx & Inger, 1955 – Schmidt's reed snake
- Calamaria septentrionalis Boulenger, 1890 – Hong Kong dwarf snake
- Calamaria strigiventris Poyarkov, T.V. Nguyen, Orlov & G. Vogel, 2019 – striped-belly reed snake
- Calamaria suluensis Taylor, 1922 – yellow-bellied reed snake, Sulu reed snake
- Calamaria sumatrana Edeling, 1870 – Sumatran reed snake, Sumatra dwarf snake
- Calamaria thanhi Ziegler & Quyet, 200512 – Thanh's reed snake
- Calamaria ulmeri Sackett, 1940 – Ulmer's reed snake
- Calamaria virgulata F. Boie, 1827 – Boie's dwarf snake, short-tailed reed snake
- Calamaria yunnanensis Chernov, 1962 – Yunnan reed snake
Nota bene: A binomial authority in parentheses indicates that the species was originally described with a different name.
References
References
- Genus Calamaria at Dahms Tierleben. http://www.dahmstierleben.de. (in German).
- "Calamaria H.Boie, 1827". Global Biodiversity Information Facility. Retrieved 8 February 2026.
- Genus Calamaria at The Reptile Database www.reptile-database.org.
- Ecologyasia.com
- Animaldiversity.Umich.edu
- "Biologi.lipi.go.id" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 2010-12-25. Retrieved 2010-05-13.
- Ecologyasia.com
- Boulenger GA (1894). Catalogue of the Snakes in the British Museum (Natural History). Volume II., Containing the Conclusion of the Colubridæ Aglyphæ. London: Trustees of the British Museum (Natural History). (Taylor and Francis, printers). xi + 382 pp. + Plates I–XX. (Genus Calamaria, p. 330).
- Weinell, Jeffrey L.; Leviton, Alan Edward; Brown, Rafe Marion (2021). "A new species of reed snake, genus Calamaria (Colubridae: Calamariinae), from Mindoro Island, Philippines". Philippine Journal of Systematic Biology. 14 (2): 1–14. doi:10.26757/pjsb2020b14006.. (Calamaria alcalai, new species).
- Beolens, Bo; Watkins, Michael; Grayson, Michael (2011). The Eponym Dictionary of Reptiles. Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press. xiii + 296 pp. ISBN 978-1-4214-0135-5.
- Qi, Shuo; Nguyen, Tan Van; Wang, Jian; Zeng, Zhao-Chi; Shi, Jing-Song; et al. (2026). "An unexpected discovery of hidden diversity: a new species of the genus Calamaria H. Boie in F. Boie, 1827 (Squamata, Calamariidae) from Guangxi, China". Zoosystematics and Evolution. 102 (2): 701–718. doi:10.3897/zse.102.188045.
- Ziegler, Thomas; Quyet, Le Khac (2005). "A new species of reed snake, Calamaria (Squamata: Colubridae), from the Central Truong Son (Annamite mountain range), Vietnam" Zootaxa 1042: 27–38. (Calamaria thanhi, new species).