Protobothrops elegans is a pit viper species endemic to Japan in the southern Ryukyu Islands. No subspecies are currently recognized. Common names include: elegant pit viper, Sakishima habu (サキシマハブ), and elegant tree viper.

Description

Scalation includes 25 (sometimes 23) rows of dorsal scales at midbody, 179–192 (males) or 182–196 (females) ventral scales, 63–90 subcaudal scales, and 8 (sometimes 7 or 9) supralabial scales. During 1965–2011, 2447 snakebites from this snake are reported with one fatality.

Geographic range

It is found in Japan in the southern Ryukyu Islands, specifically in the Yaeyama Islands. The type locality is unknown. Boulenger listed it as " ?" while Gray's original 1849 description gives "West Coast of [North?] America." A restriction to "Ishigaki-Shima [Ryukyu Islands, Japan]" was proposed by Stejneger (1907).