Typhlops lazelli (Wallach & Pauwels, 2004)
Lazell's Blind Snake 香港盲蛇
(Non-venomous)
Suborder
Serpentes 蛇亞目
According to the description, head round in dorsal view, not distinct from the neck.
Anterior snout, chin, throat white. Eye barely visible as a vague pigmented spot.
Tail with abrupt taper near tip. Apical spine lacking, tail terminus covered by an obtusely pointed cone.
Distinguished from Common Blind Snake (Ramphotyphlops braminus) with indistinct eyespot and white snout.
Separated from similar White-headed Blind Snake (Ramphotyphlops albiceps) with 18 scale rows (R. albiceps has 20); only white in snout, chin and throat and subcaudal (R. albiceps white or yellow in entire head, nape, subcaudals and tail tip).
Reference: Wallach, V. & Pauwels, O.S.G. 2004. Typhlops lazelli, a new species of Chinese blindsnake from Hong Kong (Serpentes: Typhlopidae). Breviora (512): 1-21
Specimens collected from leaf litter in concrete drainage ditch, presumably washed down by rain from the forested slope above the drain.
One adult female collected from St. Louis School Pokfulam in 1988 by Sandra Brown;
One juvenile male collected from the campus of the University of Hong Kong in 10 Dec 1992 by Michael Wai-Neng Lau;