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NATURAL HISTORY · CATALOGUE RECORD

Lichen-colored Snail Sucker

Sibon longifrenis (Stejneger, 1909)

Source-backed taxonomic record

Accepted species in Catalogue of Life’s 11 September 2026 base release. This preserves the source classification and available supporting data; it is not a completed species monograph.

A Stejneger's snail-sucker (Sibon longifrenis) at La Selva Biological Station, Sarapiqui, Costa Rica.

A Stejneger's snail-sucker (Sibon longifrenis) at La Selva Biological Station, Sarapiqui, Costa Rica.

Geoff Gallice · CC BY 2.0 · Image source

Provider-generated thumbnail requested at 800 pixels; no local editing Local WebP display rendition; resized without cropping.

Open encyclopedia reference

Sibon longifrenis, Stejneger's snail sucker or lichen-colored snail sucker, is a species of snake in the family Colubridae. It is found in Panama, Costa Rica, Honduras and Nicaragua.

The Sibon longifrenis primarily feeds on amphibian eggs, particularly frog eggs, but will also feed on small oligochaetes and mollusks, such as slugs and snails. The absence of amphibian eggs in their diet may result in nutritional deficit and poor body conditions.

Wikipedia contributors, Sibon longifrenis; see linked history · CC BY-SA 4.0 . Plain-text lead excerpt, at most 180 words; no infobox or later sections Retrieved 2026-10-05T11:57:49.721898+00:00. This reference remains separate from the taxonomic record.

Identity & source status

Scientific name
Sibon longifrenis (Stejneger, 1909)
Name authority
(Stejneger, 1909)
Common name
Lichen-colored Snail Sucker
Rank
species
Accepted status
accepted
Kingdom
Animalia
Phylum
Chordata
Class
Reptilia
Order
Squamata
Family
Colubridae
Genus
Sibon
Extinction status
Not supplied by this source

Classification family tree

Nested taxonomic groups from the source. This is not a direct-ancestor chain, a dated evolutionary tree or a phylogenetic reconstruction.

  1. domainEukaryota (Chatton, 1925) Whittaker & Margulis, 1978
  2. kingdomAnimalia
  3. phylumChordata
  4. subphylumVertebrata
  5. infraphylumGnathostomata
  6. parvphylumOsteichthyes
  7. megaclassTetrapoda
  8. classReptilia Laurenti, 1768
  9. orderSquamata Oppel, 1811
  10. suborderSerpentes Linnaeus, 1758
  11. infraorderAlethinophidia Nopcsa, 1923
  12. familyColubridae
  13. subfamilyDipsadinae
  14. genusSibon
  15. speciesSibon longifrenis (Stejneger, 1909)

Close classified relatives

These entries share the source’s genus, Sibon. They are not necessarily the closest relatives established by molecular evidence.

SpeciesClassificationSource status
Dunn's Snail SuckerSibon dunni Peters, 1957ColubridaeChordataAccepted speciesExtinction status not supplied
Lined Snail SuckerSibon linearis Pérez-Higareda, López-Luna & Smith, 2002ColubridaeChordataAccepted speciesExtinction status not supplied
Sibon miskitus Mccranie, 2006ColubridaeChordataAccepted speciesExtinction status not supplied
Cloudy Snail-eating SnakeSibon nebulatus (Linnaeus, 1758)ColubridaeChordataAccepted speciesExtinction status not supplied
Sibon noalamina Lotzkat, Hertz & Köhler, 2012ColubridaeChordataAccepted speciesExtinction status not supplied
Sibon perissostichon Köhler, Lotzkat & Hertz, 2010ColubridaeChordataAccepted speciesExtinction status not supplied
Bev Ridgely’s Snail-EaterSibon bevridgelyi Arteaga, Salazar-Valenzuela, Mebert, Peñafiel, Aguiar, Sánchez-Nivicela, Pyron, Colston, Cisneros-Heredia, Yánez-Muñoz, Venegas, Guayasamin & Torres-Carvajal, 2018ColubridaeChordataAccepted speciesExtinction status not supplied
Ayerbes’ snail-eaterSibon ayerbeorum Vera-Pérez, 2019ColubridaeChordataAccepted speciesExtinction status not supplied
Cloudy Snail-eating SnakeSibon leucomelas (Boulenger, 1896)ColubridaeChordataAccepted speciesExtinction status not supplied
Hartweg’s Snail-eating SnakeSibon hartwegi (Peters, 1960)ColubridaeChordataAccepted speciesExtinction status not supplied
Ringed Snail SuckerSibon annulatus (Günther, 1872)ColubridaeChordataAccepted speciesExtinction status not supplied
Cope's Snail SuckerSibon anthracops (Cope, 1868)ColubridaeChordataAccepted speciesExtinction status not supplied

Browse 1,632 records assigned to Colubridae.

Names & synonyms

Names explicitly linked to this accepted taxon in the source. Synonymy can change with revision.

Recorded nameSource status
Dipsas costaricensis Taylor, 1951 Taylor, 1951synonym
Mesopeltis longifrenis Stejneger, 1909 Stejneger, 1909synonym

Documented distribution

Source distribution statements, not a complete range map. A listed locality is not necessarily a place of origin.

Panama, Costa Rica, Honduras (McCranie et al. 2001), Nicaragua

Source literature & publication evidence

References attached to this source record, including nomenclatural citations where supplied. This is a selected bibliography; abbreviated citations remain in the source’s form.

  1. https://reptile-database.reptarium.cz/species?genus=Sibon&species=longifrenis Source fields: Taxon.tsv dwc:namePublishedIn, Taxon.tsv dcterms:references

Origins, evidence & remaining research

Name authority and publication references document nomenclature where the source supplies it. They do not establish evolutionary origins or the earliest fossil occurrence.

Specimen-level evidence, morphology, ecological research, phylogenetic studies, a comprehensive bibliography and a located literary passage have not yet been compiled for this record.

Dataset citation & attribution

This exact taxon in ChecklistBank · Catalogue of Life 2026-09-11

Catalogue of Life 2026-09-11; dataset 316321; doi:10.48580/dgz5n. https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ . Retrieved 5 October 2026.

Stable key: col:4X6JM. Classification follows source parent identifiers. English common names may vary by region.