Red-tailed coral snake, Many-banded coral snake
Micrurus mipartitus (red-tailed coral snake or many-banded coral snake) is a species of coral snake in the family Elapidae. It is found in South and Central America. The redtail coral snake is common in agricultural areas in Colombia. Its highly neurotoxic venom is known to cause seizures in its prey by activating nerve proteins responsible for seizures within it.
It occurs in Central America and South America. Limits of its range vary by source and may include Nicaragua and Costa Rica in the north, although older records from Nicaragua and Costa Rica likely refer to M. multifasciatus. The IUCN Redlist restricts its range to Panama, Colombia, Venezuela, and Ecuador, and possibly Peru. It has also been listed from Brazil (Rondônia).
The redtail coral snake has a potentially deadly neurotoxic venom, which produces a complete depolarizing muscle block. Proteomics analysis of the venom components found that it contains about 60% three-finger toxins, 30% phospholipase A2, and 10% other toxins. The most abundant venom component is the three-finger toxin mipartoxin-I.
The venom acts by blocking the neuromuscular transmission of nerve muscle preparations, it acts in a post-synaptic way through the Nicotinic acetylcholine receptor (nAChr), inhibiting the muscle contractions in phrenic nerve diaphragm. After the bite, local pain and paraesthesia appear in minutes, in severe cases, neurological manifestations appear in 30 minutes to 1–2 hours, such as progressive bilateral ptosis, dysarthria, progressive weakness in the muscles of the extremities, difficulties in walking, salivation, drowsiness, respiratory arrest, flaccid quadriparesis and severe flaccid quadriplegia. The LD50 for 18-20 gram mice is 9 μg and 0.45 mg / kg. The intraperitoneal lethal dose is 0.125 mg / kg and 0.06 μg / g.
