Iwasaki's Snail-eater, Pareas iwasakii, is a species of snake

Snake

Snakes are elongate, legless, carnivorous reptiles of the suborder Serpentes that can be distinguished from legless lizards by their lack of eyelids and external ears. Like all squamates, snakes are ectothermic, amniote vertebrates covered in overlapping scales...

 in the Colubridae family. It is endemic to Japan

Japan

Japan is an island nation in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south...

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Ecology

Pareas iwasakii is a snail eating specialist. It has asymmetric jaws, which facilitates feeding on snails with dextral (clockwise coiled) shells. A consequence of this asymmetry is that Pareas iwasakii is much less adept at preying on sinistral (counterclockwise coiled) snails.

Taxonomy

Originally described as Amblycephalus formosensis iwasakii by Maki, it is currently placed in the genus Pareas

Pareas

Pareas is a genus of snakes in the Colubridae family. They are all harmless to humans.- Species :It contains the following species:* Pareas boulengeri * Pareas carinatus Pareas is a genus of snakes in the Colubridae family. They are all harmless to humans.- Species :It contains the following...

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Further reading

• Hoso M. & Hori M. (November 2008) "Divergent Shell Shape as an Antipredator Adaptation in Tropical Land Snails". The American Naturalist 172(5): 726-732. , .