Achalinus werneri

Achalinus werneri (Achalinus werneri) is the Amami Odd-scaled or Takachiho Snake, a slender xenodermatid whose unusual iridescent, individually separated scales give the group its name. Identification should combine documented pattern, scalation, body form and locality because related Japanese reptiles may be very similar. Claims here are limited to the opened species accounts (Wikipedia, general species account; Reptile Database). Field identification should therefore remain cautious wherever photographs or diagnostic measurements are unavailable.

It is endemic to Japan's Ryukyu Islands and no subspecies are recognised; sparse accessible accounts do not support adding diet or reproductive details. Information absent from those species-level sources is omitted rather than inferred from relatives. Japanese occurrence follows the site's catalogue and the opened distribution accounts (Wikipedia, general species account; Reptile Database). This conservative treatment keeps unresolved parts of its natural history clearly visible to readers.