Acanthophis (Latin
= spine snake - in reference to the slender spine at the tip of the tails)
(Death Adders)
Acanthophis antarticus (Common death adder)
The death adders are very viper-like in appearance, being much more stout in body, the head much more wider and triangle shaped , and having much longer fangs that are more semi-mobile than the typical elapid. These snakes are live bearing, having up to twenty neonates at a time. A well known aspect of these snakes is the use of the coloured tip of the tail as a lure for prey.
Some symptoms of bites by death adders are similar to that by tiger snakes (Notechis) such as neuromuscular paralysis, disruption of equilibrium, sweating, and death from respiratory failure. The clinical picture, however, of envenomation as a whole is quite different. Death adders are quite unusual in Australian elapids because of the absence of significant effects apart from the post-synaptic neurotoxicity. Unlike the tiger snakes there an absence significant effects on blood clotting with death resulting from the respiratory distress. The large venom yield (70-100 mgs dry weight) and extreme toxicity of venom (0.400 mg/kg murine LD50) makes bites by these species among the most dangerous in the world.
The clinical pathology of envenomation by these snakes is reflective of the venom composition. The venom is overwhelming short and long-chain neurotoxins and contain only extremely minor amounts of phospholipase A2. The venoms bind to the acetylcholine receptor, blocking post synaptic neuromuscular transmission. The resulting paralysis is reversible by death adder antivenom and also by anticholinesterases. This is in contrast to the irreversible paralysis encountered in pre-synaptic neurotoxins from snakes such as the taipans.
Bites are treated with death adder antivenom.
Acanthophis sp. (Irian Jaya)
| Scientific name | Common name | Translation of Scientific name |
| Acanthophis antarticus | Common death adder | southern spine-snake |
| Acanthophis hawkei | Barkly tableland death adder | |
| Acanthophis praelongus | Northern death adder | very long spine-snake |
| Acanthophis pyrrhus | Desert death adder | flame coloured spine-snake |
| Acanthophis wellsei | Black-headed death adder |