NATURAL HISTORY · CATALOGUE RECORD
Eastern Coral Snake
Micrurus fulvius (Linnaeus, 1766)
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.
Micrurus fulvius, Eastern Coral Snake, Jacksonville, FL
Norman.benton · CC BY-SA 3.0 · Image sourceProvider-generated thumbnail requested at 800 pixels; no local editing Local WebP display rendition; resized without cropping.
Open encyclopedia reference
Micrurus fulvius, commonly known as the eastern coral snake, common coral snake, American cobra, and more, is a species of highly venomous coral snake in the family Elapidae. The species is endemic to the southeastern United States. The family also contains the cobras and sea snakes.
Its appearance is sometimes confused with that of the scarlet snake (Cemophora coccinea) or scarlet kingsnake (Lampropeltis elapsoides), which are nonvenomous mimics. No subspecies are recognized as being valid. Although the International Union for the Conservation of Nature (IUCN) listed M. fulvius as "Least Concern" in 2007 based on its total global population size (Hammerson, 2007), it is of significant conservation concern at the local level throughout most of its range; it is listed as Endangered in North Carolina (North Carolina Wildlife Resources Commission, 2014), Imperiled in South Carolina (South Carolina Department of Natural Resources, 2014), and of Highest Conservation Concern in Alabama (Outdoor Alabama, 2017).
Wikipedia contributors, Micrurus fulvius; see linked history · CC BY-SA 4.0 . Plain-text lead excerpt, at most 180 words; no infobox or later sections Retrieved 2026-10-05T08:19:27.550227+00:00. This reference remains separate from the taxonomic record.
Identity & source status
- Scientific name
- Micrurus fulvius (Linnaeus, 1766)
- Name authority
- (Linnaeus, 1766)
- Common name
- Eastern Coral Snake
- Rank
- species
- Accepted status
- accepted
- Kingdom
- Animalia
- Phylum
- Chordata
- Class
- Reptilia
- Order
- Squamata
- Family
- Elapidae
- Genus
- Micrurus
- 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.
- domainEukaryota (Chatton, 1925) Whittaker & Margulis, 1978
- kingdomAnimalia
- phylumChordata
- subphylumVertebrata
- infraphylumGnathostomata
- parvphylumOsteichthyes
- megaclassTetrapoda
- classReptilia Laurenti, 1768
- orderSquamata Oppel, 1811
- suborderSerpentes Linnaeus, 1758
- infraorderAlethinophidia Nopcsa, 1923
- familyElapidae
- genusMicrurus
- speciesMicrurus fulvius (Linnaeus, 1766)
Close classified relatives
These entries share the source’s genus, Micrurus. They are not necessarily the closest relatives established by molecular evidence.
| Species | Classification | Source status |
|---|---|---|
| Remote coral snakeMicrurus remotus Roze, 1987 | ElapidaeChordata | Accepted speciesExtinction status not supplied |
| Desert Coral SnakeMicrurus tschudii (Jan, 1858) | ElapidaeChordata | Accepted speciesExtinction status not supplied |
| Aquatic Coral SnakeMicrurus surinamensis (Cuvier, 1816) | ElapidaeChordata | Accepted speciesExtinction status not supplied |
| Micrurus serranus Harvey, Aparicio & Gonzalez, 2003 | ElapidaeChordata | Accepted speciesExtinction status not supplied |
| San Gil coral snakeMicrurus sangilensis Niceforo Maria, 1942 | ElapidaeChordata | Accepted speciesExtinction status not supplied |
| Pastaza Piedmont coral snake [orcesi]Micrurus steindachneri (Werner, 1901) | ElapidaeChordata | Accepted speciesExtinction status not supplied |
| Antioquian coral snake [antioquiensis]Micrurus dumerilii (Jan, 1858) | ElapidaeChordata | Accepted speciesExtinction status not supplied |
| Barranquilla pygmy coral snake [nigrirostris]Micrurus dissoleucus Cope, 1860 | ElapidaeChordata | Accepted speciesExtinction status not supplied |
| Diastema Coral SnakeMicrurus diastema (Duméril, Bibron & Duméril, 1854) | ElapidaeChordata | Accepted speciesExtinction status not supplied |
| Clark's Coral SnakeMicrurus clarki Schmidt, 1936 | ElapidaeChordata | Accepted speciesExtinction status not supplied |
| Micrurus camilae Renjifo & Lundberg, 2003 | ElapidaeChordata | Accepted speciesExtinction status not supplied |
| Brown's Coral SnakeMicrurus browni (Schmidt & Smith, 1943) | ElapidaeChordata | Accepted speciesExtinction status not supplied |
Names & synonyms
Names explicitly linked to this accepted taxon in the source. Synonymy can change with revision.
| Recorded name | Source status |
|---|---|
| Micrurus fulvius barbouri Schmidt, 1928 Schmidt, 1928 | synonym |
| Coluber fulvius Linnaeus, 1766 Linnaeus, 1766 | synonym |
Documented distribution
Source distribution statements, not a complete range map. A listed locality is not necessarily a place of origin.
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.
- https://reptile-database.reptarium.cz/species?genus=Micrurus&species=fulvius 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:6RJM8. Classification follows source parent identifiers. English common names may vary by region.