Sibynophis chinensis chinensis

黃頜蛇科、Sibynophinae 亞科。
Colubridae, subfamily Sibynophinae

72 cm

台灣全島海拔500-1500公尺地帶。並不常見。

北 越南，中/南 中國（江蘇，浙江，福建，廣東，廣西，海南，湖南，湖北，四川，安徽，甘肅，江西，江蘇，河南，山西，陝西），台灣。

Small snake; total length up to 72 cm. There are 17 rows of body scales, which are smooth and iridescent. Head is slightly triangular; body is slender; tail is long. Eye is medium to small; iris is dark, black dappled on dirty yellow, pupil is jet black, round, circled with distinct orange red band. Tongue is dark, stem mottled. Upper head is grey to dark brown, with two small black markings. There is a black collar on the nape bordered posteriorly by a stripe of cream to tan. Rostral and supralabials are prominently marked with white stripes or spots, partly bordered by black. Upper body is gray brown to brown with 3 indistinct longitudinal stripes of diffuse black or white pigment; the mid-dorsal stripe is widest but becomes less distinct posteriorly. Ventral head is dirty white mottled with coarse diffuse black or brown pigment. Ventral body is whitish to yellow green, with scattered flecks of black anteriorly. The brown of upper body extends onto outer quarter or fifth of ventral scales. Areas of black pigment at each side of the ventral form a longitudinal line which extends onto tail. Anal scale is divided and subcaudals are paired.

愛吃小型蜥蜴的蛇中，那些在 "Sibynophis" 屬底下的蛇，上頜骨兩側的上頜牙齒可以牢牢的垂直鎖定住要逃跑的蜥蜴。

Sibynophis: sibyna 在古希臘有狩獵長矛的意思，在這裡指的是蛇的牙齒； ophis 則是"蛇"的意思； 黑頭蛇、黑頭劍蛇。