Micropechis ikaheca
Silhouette: SeismicShrimp · PhyloPic
In 3 days ~30% in a week ~60%
Micropechis ikaheca, commonly known as the New Guinea small-eyed snake or Ikaheka snake, is a highly venomous elapid, the only species in the genus Micropechis. The holotype was collected at Doré (modern day Manokwari) on the Vogelkop of Netherlands New Guinea, and described in 1829, by the naturalist on board the French Navy vessel La Coquille, ship's surgeon René Primevère Lesson, in a volume of the three-year circumnavigation (1922-1925) by Louis Isidore Duperrey, captain of La Coquille. Lesson's holotype is housed in the collection of the Muséum National d'Histoire Naturelle, in Paris, with the museum accession no. MNHN 7669.
It is known as sataw in the Kalam language of Papua New Guinea. Micropechis ikaheca is endemic to New Guinea and adjacent islands, notably Karkar Island, Madang Province, in Papua New Guinea, where it is particularly common and referred to as the "white snake" due to its pale coloring. It is also found on neighboring Manam Island, and Walis Island in East Sepik Province, Papua New Guinea. In Indonesia, other than Western New Guinea, they can also be found on the Biak Islands, Raja Ampat Islands, and Aru Islands. Wikipedia →
| # | Park | Country | Daily sighting probability |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Raja Ampat | 🇮🇩 Indonesia |
More parks will be added in future updates.
| # | Zoo / Centre | Country | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Downtown Aquarium, Houston | 🇺🇸 United States |
With luck
About 10% of wildlife watchers report an Ikaheka Snake sighting in Raja Ampat on a given day, based on 6 verified sightings from GBIF citizen-science data from 2019 to 2026. It is the 30th most-seen of the 33 reptiles we can rate there. Over three days the chance rises to about 30%, and over a week to about 60%, if each day is a fresh chance.
March
In that month about 30% of wildlife watchers report an Ikaheka Snake in Raja Ampat on a given day, against under 5% in April, June–July, September–October and December–February, the lowest months.
Between 8 and 11 pm
Across all the parks we cover, that three-hour window holds the most Ikaheka Snake sightings with a recorded time, and about 6 in 10 of them come between 6 pm and 6 am: it is seen both by day and at night.
Only Raja Ampat, in our data
Raja Ampat is the only park on Wallace's Line with enough records to rate Ikaheka Snake sightings: about 10% of wildlife watchers there report one on a given day.
GBIF citizen-science records
It is estimated from how often the Ikaheka Snake is recorded against all the reptiles logged in Raja Ampat (6 verified sightings from 2019 to 2026), calibrated against known sighting rates. Figures are rounded to the nearest 10% because citizen-science data supports honest approximations, not decimals, and months with records from fewer than five people show "—". How it works.
