Smithophis

Smithophis is a genus of snakes in the subfamily Natricinae of the family Colubridae; the one species that was known prior to 2019 had been classified under the genus Rhabdops, but was removed in the process of erecting the new genus Smithophis.^[1] The genus is endemic to Asia. It is named for Malcolm Arthur Smith, a British herpetologist who was active in Indian herpetology.^[2]

Smithophis
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Chordata
Class:	Reptilia
Order:	Squamata
Suborder:	Serpentes
Family:	Colubridae
Subfamily:	Natricinae
Genus:	Smithophis Giri, Gower, Das, Lalremsanga, Lalronunga, Captain, & Deepak, 2019
Species
5, see text.

Species

The following species are recognized as being valid:^[3]

• Smithophis arunachalensis Das, Deepak, Captain, Wade & Gower, 2020^[4] – Arunachal rain snake, black and yellow smithophis
• Smithophis atemporalis Giri, Gower, Das, Lalremsanga, Lalronunga, Captain, & Deepak, 2019 – Mizo rain snake, narrow-headed smithophis
• Smithophis bicolor (Blyth, 1854) – brown trapezoid snake, two-colored forest snake
• Smithophis linearis Vogel, Chen, Deepak, Gower, Shi, Ding, & Hou, 2020 – Jingpo mountain stream snake, lined smithophis
• Smithophis mizoramensis Mirza, Bhardwaj, Lalmuanawma, Choure, Lalremsanga, Vabeiryureilai, Captain, Zagade & Patel, 2024 – Mizoram rain snake^[5]

Nota bene: A binomial authority in parentheses indicates that the species was originally described in a genus other than Smithophis.