TY - JOUR AU - Mochida, Koji AU - Zhang, Wan-Yu AU - Toda, Mamoru PY - 2015 DA - 2015/02/24 TI - The function of body coloration of the hai coral snake Sinomicrurus japonicus boettgeri JO - Zoological Studies SP - 33 VL - 54 IS - 1 AB - Prey animals often protect themselves from visual hunting predators via their body coloration, which encompasses various visual effects. When a prey animal displays a certain color pattern on its body surface, its protective function and effect are largely dependent on how a predator would encounter and perceive the prey animal. Asian coral snakes of the genus Sinomicrurus, which are venomous, display black bands and stripes on their orange body coloration. The banded pattern has been characterized as an aposematic signal in the New World coral snakes, but the stripes generally occur in cryptic snakes. We investigated the function of this complex color pattern, which might be interpreted as aposematic and cryptic, in Sinomicrurus japonicus boettgeri. SN - 1810-522X UR - https://doi.org/10.1186/s40555-015-0110-2 DO - 10.1186/s40555-015-0110-2 ID - Mochida2015 ER -