第 0112 號，共 1 402 號

Aquatic coral snake

Micrurus surinamensis

可能致命不治療的話可能會害死你。如果牠咬了你，要趕快求救。

咬吃：肉

The aquatic coral snake is a venomous snake that spends much of its time in water. It is one of the heaviest and sturdiest coral snakes, and it lives in the forests of northern South America. It is special because it swims well and can stay underwater for a long time.1

分布在

Northern South America: Bolivia, Brazil, Colombia, Ecuador, French Guiana, Guyana, Peru, Suriname and Venezuela1

南美洲

首頁

It prefers humid forests with low mountains and tropical forests along streams, rivers and other bodies of water. It can be common in humid lowland forest from near sea level up to 600 m.1

長度

80 cm 到 1,4 m (2,6 ft 到 4,4 ft)1

最高速度

大約 5,3 km/h（3,3 mph）

在陸地上, 粗略估計

牠吃什麼？

It mainly eats swamp eels such as Synbranchus marmoratus, bony fishes such as Callichthys callichthys and Gymnotus carapo, amphibians, and other snakes.1

Aquatic coral snake 的照片 — Aquatic coral snake。照片：dhfischer。 CC BY 4.0, iNaturalist.

怎麼認出牠

The head is mainly red with black edging on the scales.1
The head is large with a long snout, and the eyes and nostrils sit higher on the head than in other coral snakes.1
The body has wide red rings separated by groups of three black rings, with narrow cream or yellowish rings between the black bands.1
The scales are smooth and shiny, and arranged in 15 rows.1
Adults usually measure 80 to 100 cm, tail included.1

毒液力量

咬

咬的時候，毒液會從毒牙或牙齒出來。

牠的毒液有什麼作用？

Its venom is neurotoxic, meaning it attacks the nerves. It blocks signals between nerves and muscles, which causes paralysis. Symptoms can include blurred vision, difficulty speaking, swallowing and walking, and breathing failure. In a well-reported case in the Amazon, the victim reached hospital about 20 minutes after the bite.1

牠對人有多危險？

對人的危險: 非常危險如果沒有治療，牠可能會害死一個人。

Bites are rare, but the venom can cause paralysis of the cranial nerves and can be fatal. The estimated lethal dose for an adult human is 18–20 mg, which is higher than the 4–7 mg for smaller coral snake species. Because it is a large snake, it can carry a lot of venom, with an average yield of 56 mg and a maximum of 160 mg when milked by scientists.1

好消息：醫生有藥（抗毒血清）或治療方法。1

牠害怕時會做什麼？

When threatened, it flattens its body and raises its tail.1

如果牠咬人

A bite needs hospital care. In a recorded case, the victim needed mechanical ventilation because paralysis of the breathing muscles made it hard to breathe, and was given specific Micrurus antivenom.1
讓傷者保持不動和冷靜，並趕快送醫院，就算咬傷看起來很小也一樣：症狀可能幾個小時後才出現。

一定要先打緊急電話（112、000、911）。這是一般急救指引，不是醫療建議。急救基本知識