Mamushi

For the character in the video game Warriors Orochi, see Mamushi (character).

Gloydius blomhoffii
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Chordata
Subphylum:	Vertebrata
Class:	Reptilia
Order:	Squamata
Suborder:	Serpentes
Family:	Viperidae
Subfamily:	Crotalinae
Genus:	Gloydius
Species:	G. blomhoffii
Binomial name
Gloydius blomhoffii (Boie, 1826)
Synonyms
Trigonocephalus Blomhoffii—H. Boie, 1826 Trigonocephalus [(Halys)] affnis—Gray, 1849 Trigonocephalus [(Halys)] Blomhoffii—Gray, 1849 T[rigonocephalus]. Blomhoffii var. megaspilus—Cope, 1860 Halys blomhoffii—Peters, 1862 T[rigonocephalus]. blomhoffii—Jan, 1963 Ancistrodon blomhoffii—Boulenger, 1896 Agkistrodon blomhoffii ? affinis—Stejneger, 1907 Ancistrodon halys blomhoffii—Nikolsky, 1916 Agkistrodon blomhoffii blomhoffii—Sternfeld, 1916 A[ncistrodon]. blomhoffii blomhoffii—Werner, 1922 Agkistrodon blomhoffii affinis—Werner, 1922 Ankistrodon halys blomhoffii—Pavloff, 1926 Agkistrodon halys blomhoffii—Mell, 1929 Agkistrodon halys affinis—Mell, 1929 Gloydius blomhoffi blomhoffi—Hoge & Romano-Hoge, 1981 Agkistrodon affinis—Gloyd & Conant, 1990[1]

Gloydius blomhoffii, commonly known as the mamushi,^[2] or Japanese mamushi,^[3] is a venomous pitviper species found in China, Japan, and Korea. There are four subspecies including the nominate subspecies described here.^[4]

This species and the Okinawan habu are the most venomous snakes in Japan.^[5] Every year, 2000–3000 people in Japan are bitten by mamushi, bite victims typically require one week of treatment in hospital, severe bites require intensive care, and approximately 10 victims die.^[6][7]

Description

The average length of mature individuals is 45–81 cm; the longest specimen ever recorded had a length of 91 cm.^[2]

The body pattern consists of a pale gray, reddish-brown or yellow-brown background, overlaid with a series of irregularly-shaped lateral blotches. These blotches are bordered with black and often have lighter centers. The head is dark brown or black, with beige or pale-gray sides.^[2]

Common names

The common name in English is mamushi,^[2] or Japanese mamushi.^[3] The common name in Japanese is mamushi (マムシ^?). In Korea, it is known as 살무사 (salmusa).

Geographic range

It is found in China, Japan, and Korea. It is the most common snake in Japan.^[8] According to Gloyd and Conant (1990), there is no evidence to support claims that this species occurs in the Ryukyu Islands. The type locality given is "Japan".^[1]

Habitat

It occurs in a range of habitats, including swamps, marshes, meadows, open woodland, rocky hillsides, and montane rock outcroppings.^[2]

Feeding

A mamushi lurking in a bush a little above ground-level, waiting to ambush passing prey

It is typically an ambush predator that uses its excellent camouflage to hide itself in vegetation or leaf litter. It hunts and eats mainly rodents, but also small birds, lizards, and insects. It is often found in and around farmland due to the associated rodent populations.^[2]

Venom

Characteristics

The venom of this species varies very little among Japan, China, and Korea in terms of both its potency and its effects.^[9] According to Yoshimitsu (2005), this species and the Okinawan habu, another pitviper, are the most venomous snakes in Japan.^[5] The venom's lethality as measured by LD₅₀ in mice following intraperitoneal injection is in the range 0.3 mg/kg^[10] to 1.22 mg/kg.^[11] The venom mostly contains haemolytic toxins, but it also has two neurotoxins—an alpha-toxin that is a post-synaptic inhibitor and a beta-toxin that is a pre-synaptic inhibitor.^[11] Because the beta-toxin acts pre-synaptically, its effects cannot be blocked or treated by anticholinesterases.^[11] The venom contains an anticoagulant, mamushi L-amino-acid oxidase (M-LAO).^[12] It also contains the peptide ablomin which is highly similar in amino acid sequence to that of the venom, helothermine, of the beaded lizard (Heloderma horridum).^[13]

Treatments for envenomations

There is an effective antivenom manufactured in both Japan and China.^[9] Its effectiveness is increased when co-administered with a serine protease inhibitor such as FOY (see, e.g. Camostat).^[14] In common with many other venomous snakes, the mamushi is highly resistant to its own venom because of various neutralising factors present in its sera including phospholipase A2 (PLA₂) inhibitors; these and other inhibitors are the target of antivenom development.^[15]

Every year, 2000-3000 people in Japan are bitten by mamushi, severe bites require intensive care, and approximately 10 victims die.^[6] There have been case reports of renal failure,^[16] visual disturbances,^[17] palsy, and miscarriage in pregnant women.^[18]

In one study in Japan, mamushi bite victims required a median duration of 7 days of treatment in hospital followed by a median of 31 days of out-patient treatment, and the time to achieve a full recovery was even longer, taking up to several months.^[7] The treatment protocol involved incision of the wound for exclusion of the venom, and injection of mamushi antivenom.^[7]

Subspecies

Subspecies[4]	Taxon author[4]	Common name[19]	Geographic range[2]
G. b. blomhoffii	(Boie, 1826)	Japanese mamushi	Japan, including most of the smaller islands.
G. b. brevicaudus	(Stejneger, 1907)	Short-tailed mamushi	China (Manchuria) and the Korean Peninsula.
G. b. dubitatus	(Gloyd, 1977)	Tung Ling mamushi	Restricted to Hebei Province, China.
G. b. siniticus	(Gloyd, 1977)	Yangtze mamushi	Type locality: China, from Shandong, Jiang Su and Anhui provinces, south to the Ch'ang Chiang Basin and eastern Sichuan, Jiangxi and Hunan.

Taxonomy

There are five subspecies—the four mentioned in the table above, plus A. b. ussuriensis, which is found in Russia.^[19] However, the fifth subspecies has also been described as a species: Gloydius ussuriensis.^[1][2]

This species is similar to the cottonmouths and copperheads (Agkistrodon sp.) of the Americas, and it was long considered part of the same group (see synonymy).^[1]

See also

• List of crotaline species and subspecies
• Crotalinae by common name
• Crotalinae by taxonomic synonyms
• Snakebite

References

1. ^ ^{a b c d} McDiarmid RW, Campbell JA, Touré T. 1999. Snake Species of the World: A Taxonomic and Geographic Reference, vol. 1. Herpetologists' League. 511 pp. ISBN 1-893777-00-6 (series). ISBN 1-893777-01-4 (volume).
2. ^ ^{a b c d e f g h} Mehrtens JM. 1987. Living Snakes of the World in Color. New York: Sterling Publishers. 480 pp. ISBN 0-8069-6460-X.
3. ^ ^{a b} Gumprecht A, Tillack F, Orlov NL, Captain A, Ryabov S. 2004. Asian Pitvipers. Geitje Books: Berlin. 1st Edition. 368 pp. ISBN 3-937975-00-4.
4. ^ ^{a b c} "Gloydius blomhoffii". Integrated Taxonomic Information System. http://www.itis.gov/servlet/SingleRpt/SingleRpt?search_topic=TSN&search_value=634884. Retrieved 19 May 2007. 
5. ^ ^{a b} Yoshimitsu M, 2005. Animal and Snake Bites, Japanese Journal of Pediatric Surgery (journal code Z0323B), ISSN: 0385-6313, 37(2):207–215. (Japanese)
6. ^ ^{a b} Okamoto O, Oishi M, Hatano Y, Kai Y, Goto M, Kato A, Shimizu F, Katagiri K, Fujiwara S. 2009. Severity factors of Mamushi (Agkistrodon blomhoffii) bite. J Dermatol. 36(5):277–283.
7. ^ ^{a b c} Shigeta M, Kuga T, Kudo J, Yamashita A, Fujii Y. 2007. Clinical study of mamushi viper bites in 35 cases. Journal of the Japanese Association of Rural Medicine, ISSN 0468-2513, 56(2):61–67
8. ^ Ameno S, Ameno K, Fuke C, Kiryu T, Ijiri I. 1990. IgG subclass distributions of anti-horse serum antibodies and natural venom-antibodies produced in response to antivenom injection or snake bite in humans. Toxicon. 28(3):347–50. doi:10.1016/0041-0101(90)90070-N. PMID: 2343468
9. ^ ^{a b} Fukuda T, Iwaki M, Hong SH, Oh HJ, Wei Z, Morokuma K, Ohkuma K, Dianliang L, Arakawa Y, Takahashi M. 2006. Standardization of Regional Reference for Mamushi (Gloydius blomhoffii) in Japan, Korea, and China. Jpn J Infect Dis, 59:20-24. (in English) PDF at the Japanese Ministry of Health, Labour, and Welfare. Accessed 26 July 2010.
10. ^ Hung YC, Sava V, Hong MY, Huang GS. 2004. Inhibitory effects on phospholipase A2 and antivenin activity of melanin extracted from Thea sinensis Linn. Life Sci. Mar 5; 74(16):2037–2047
11. ^ ^{a b c} Igari R, Iseki K, Abe S, Syoji M, Sato M, Shimomura K, Hayashida A, Sugiura A, Iwashita Y, Midorikawa S. 2010. Binocular diplopia and ptosis due to snakebite (Agkistrodon blomhoffi "mamushi")—a case report. Brain Nerve. Mar;62(3):273–277.
12. ^ Sakurai Y, Shima M, Matsumoto T, Takatsuka H, Nishiya K, Kasuda S, Fujimura Y, Yoshioka A. 2003. Biochimica et Biophysica Acta. Proteins and proteomics, 1649(1):51–57. ISSN 1570-9639.
13. ^ Yamazaki Y, Koike H, Sugiyama Y, Motoyoshi K, Wada T, Hishinuma S, Mita M, Morita T. 2002. Cloning and characterization of novel snake venom proteins that block smooth muscle contraction. Eur J Biochem, 269(11):2708–2715.
14. ^ Watanabe H, Nagatake T, Matsumoto K, Sakamoto T, Rikitomi N, Hirano E. 1992. Effectiveness of protease inhibition in severe mamushi bite. Procs. XXXIV Annual Meetings of Japan Society of Tropical Medicine, 25–26 Nov 1992, Nagasaki, p.75. Preprint. Also published by same authors as Jpn J Trop Med Hyg, 21(1):39–92, 1993.
15. ^ Motou K, Yoshida A, Hattori S, Ohno M. 2003. A trial of muscle necrosis prevention by T. flavoviridis venom. Kagoshima University Journal of Medicine. 23:15–24.
16. ^ Otsuji Y, Irie Y, Ueda H, Yotsueda K, Kitahara T, Yokoyama K, Higashi Y. 1978. A case of acute renal failure caused by Mamushi (Agkistrodon halys) bite. Medical J Kagoshima Univ (in Japanese) 30:129–135.
17. ^ Takeshita T, Yamada K, Hanada M, Oda-Ueda N. 2003. Case report: Extraocular muscle paresis caused by snakebite. Kobe J Med Sci. 49(1-2):11–15.
18. ^ Nasu K, Ueda T, Miyakawa I. 2004. Intrauterine Fetal Death Caused by Pit Viper Venom Poisoning in Early Pregnancy. Gynecol Obstet Invest. 57:114–116. DOI: 10.1159/000075676
19. ^ ^{a b} Gloyd HK, Conant R. 1990. Snakes of the Agkistrodon Complex: A Monographic Review. Society for the Study of Amphibians and Reptiles. 614 pp. 52 plates. LCCN 89-50342. ISBN 0-916984-20-6.

External links

• Gloydius blomhoffi at the Reptarium.cz Reptile Database. Accessed 12 December 2007.
• Gloydius blomhoffii at the Encyclopedia of Japanese Reptiles. Accessed 20 December 2007.