Helicops (snake)

Helicops
Helicops infrataeniatus
Scientific classification
Domain:	Eukaryota
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Chordata
Class:	Reptilia
Order:	Squamata
Suborder:	Serpentes
Family:	Colubridae
Subfamily:	Dipsadinae
Genus:	Helicops Wagler, 1828

Helicops is a genus of snakes of the family Colubridae. The genus is endemic to South America.

Species

The following 20 species are recognized as being valid.

• Helicops acangussu Moraes-da-Silva, Walterman, Citeli, Sales-Nunes & Curcio, 2022
• Helicops angulatus (Linnaeus, 1758) – brown-banded water snake
• Helicops apiaka Kawashita-Ribeiro, Ávila & Morais, 2013
• Helicops boitata Moares-da-Silva, Amaro, Sales-Nunes, Strüssmann, Teixeira, Andrade, Sudré, Recoder, Rodrigues & Curcio, 2019
• Helicops carinicaudus (Wied-Neuwied, 1825) – Wied's keelback
• Helicops danieli Amaral, 1938 – Daniel's keelback
• Helicops gomesi Amaral, 1921 – São Paulo keelback
• Helicops hagmanni Roux, 1910 – Hagmann's keelback
• Helicops infrataeniatus Jan, 1865
• Helicops leopardinus (Schlegel, 1837) – leopard keelback
• Helicops modestus Günther, 1861 – olive keelback
• Helicops nentur Costa, Santana, Leal, Koroiva & Garcia, 2016
• Helicops pastazae Shreve, 1934 – Shreve's keelback
• Helicops petersi Rossman, 1976 – spiral keelback
• Helicops phantasma Moraes Da Silva, Amaro, Sales-Nunes, Rodrigues & Curcio, 2021
• Helicops polylepis Günther, 1861 – Norman's keelback
• Helicops scalaris Jan, 1865 – ladder keelback
• Helicops tapajonicus da Frota, 2005
• Helicops trivittatus (Gray, 1849) – equatorial keelback
• Helicops yacu Rossman & Dixon, 1975 – Peru keelback

Nota bene: A binomial authority in parentheses indicates that the species was originally described in a genus other than Helicops.

Further reading

• Freiberg M (1982). Snakes of South America. Hong Kong: T.F.H. Publications. 189 pp. ISBN 0-87666-912-7. (Helicops, p. 99).
• Wagler J (1828). Descriptiones et Icones Amphibiorum. Part I, Plates I-XIII. Munich, Stuttgart, Tübingen: J.G. Cotta. (Helicops, new genus, Plate VII). (in Latin).
• https://serpientesdevenezuela.org/helicops-scalaris/