For clinical data see section “Risk” below
Genus/Species
Porthidium spp., Hognosed pitvipers
Clinical entries
formerly genus Bothrops
Species
- 1. Porthidium arcosae
- 2. Porthidium dunni
- 3. Porthidium hespere
- 4. Porthidium lansbergii
- 5. Porthidium nasutum
- 6. Porthidium ophryomegas
- 7. Porthidium porrasi
- 8. Porthidium volcanicum
- 9. Porthidium yucatanicum
P. acrosae is described as a subspecies of P. lansbergii. Several species that were formerly included in this genus are now classified as belonging to the genera Cerrophidion or Atropoides (McDiarmid et al. 1999).
Taxonomy
Serpentes; Viperidae; Crotalinae
Common names
Hognosed pitvipers
- 1. Manabi hognosed pitviper
- 2. Dunn's hognosed pitviper
- 3. Colima hognosed pitviper
- 4. Lansberg's hognosed pitviper
- 5. Rainforest hognosed pitviper
- 6. Slender hognosed pitviper
- 7. White-tailed hognosed pitviper
- 8. Ujarran hognosed pitviper
- 9. Yucatan hognosed pitviper
Distribution
Southern Mexico to northwestern South America. See link "Distribution" at the top of the page for detailed information.
Map 63 Porthidium spp. under the old classification (i.e. including Cerrophidion spp. and Atropoides spp.).
Biology
Ground-dwelling pitvipers, appearance as for Bothrops spp. but on average smaller (<1 m).
Basic colouring brownish, greyish or yellowish. Smaller to large dark blotches of a triangular or trapezoidal shape along both sides of the spine, often divided by a pale stripe along the spine.
Hognosed pitvipers live largely in regions under 1,000 m above sea level with seasonal dry periods. Predominantly in dry forests, P. nasutum in rainforests.
Risk
It is thought that 10–15% of cases of snakebite envenoming in Costa Rica are caused by Porthidium sp. They generally only cause local symptoms. Isolated cases of envenoming due to P. lansbergii and P. nasutum are recorded in Panama (Jutzy et al. 1953, Sass 1979).
Literature (biological)
Bolanos 1982, 1984, Campbell and Lamar 1989, 2004, McDiarmid et al. 1999, Pérez-Santos and Moreno 1988, Schätti and Kramer 1993