NATURAL HISTORY · CATALOGUE RECORD
Dinagat Island Banded Coralsnake
Calliophis salitan Brown, Smart, Leviton & Smith, 2018
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.
Open encyclopedia reference
Calliophis salitan is a species of venomous snake in the family Elapidae. It is endemic to the Philippines and known from Dinagat Island and Mindanao; the former is based on a small number of recent records whereas the latter is based on a museum specimen from 1887.
It is unique for its large size as well as its body coloration of a black head & neck with black & white bands along the width of the body, terminating at a bright orange tail. It is distinct from any other coral snake species in the Philippines or Sundas, but is most closely related to the blue coral snake complex (C. bivirgatus & C. intestinalis) of the Sunda Shelf. While it is known only from Dinagat Island and possibly Mindanao, it may also occur or have formerly occurred on other islands in the Sulu Archipelago.
Wikipedia contributors, Calliophis salitan; see linked history · CC BY-SA 4.0 . Plain-text lead excerpt, at most 180 words; no infobox or later sections Retrieved 2026-10-05T13:07:00.432361+00:00. This reference remains separate from the taxonomic record.
Identity & source status
- Scientific name
- Calliophis salitan Brown, Smart, Leviton & Smith, 2018
- Name authority
- Brown, Smart, Leviton & Smith, 2018
- Common name
- Dinagat Island Banded Coralsnake
- Rank
- species
- Accepted status
- accepted
- Kingdom
- Animalia
- Phylum
- Chordata
- Class
- Reptilia
- Order
- Squamata
- Family
- Elapidae
- Genus
- Calliophis
- 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
- genusCalliophis
- speciesCalliophis salitan Brown, Smart, Leviton & Smith, 2018
Close classified relatives
These entries share the source’s genus, Calliophis. They are not necessarily the closest relatives established by molecular evidence.
| Species | Classification | Source status |
|---|---|---|
| Castoe’s coralsnakeCalliophis castoe Smith, Ogale, Deepak & Giri, 2012 | ElapidaeChordata | Accepted speciesExtinction status not supplied |
| Gray Coral SnakeCalliophis gracilis Gray, 1834 | ElapidaeChordata | Accepted speciesExtinction status not supplied |
| Banded Malaysian Coral SnakeCalliophis intestinalis (Laurenti, 1768) | ElapidaeChordata | Accepted speciesExtinction status not supplied |
| Indian Coral SnakeCalliophis melanurus (Shaw, 1802) | ElapidaeChordata | Accepted speciesExtinction status not supplied |
| Black Coral SnakeCalliophis nigrescens (Günther, 1862) | ElapidaeChordata | Accepted speciesExtinction status not supplied |
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=Calliophis&species=salitan 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. A suitable sourced image remains to be added.
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:8GPFF. Classification follows source parent identifiers. English common names may vary by region.