Apostolepis gaboi, known commonly as the sand dunes blackhead and the cobra-rainha das dunas in Brazilian Portuguese, is a species of snake in the family Colubridae. The species is endemic to Brazil.
Etymology The specific name, gaboi, is in honor of Uruguayan zoologist Gabriel Omar Skuk Sugliano, whose nickname is "Gabo".Beolens, Bo; Watkins, Michael; Grayson, Michael (2011). The Eponym Dictionary of Reptiles. Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press. xiii + 296 pp. . (Apostolepis gaboi, p. 96).
Geographic range A. gaboi is found in the Brazilian state of Bahia.
Habitat The preferred natural habitat of A. gaboi is shrubland with sandy soil.
Description Dorsally, A. gaboi is rust-colored, with seven black lines. The tip of the tail is black, resembling the head. The fifth and sixth upper labials contact the parietal.
Behavior A. gaboi is fossorial, and it is both diurnal and nocturnal.
Reproduction A. gaboi is oviparous.
References
Further reading Braz, Henrique B.; Kasperoviczus, Karina N.; Guedes, Thaís B. (2019). "Reproductive Biology of the Fossorial Snake Apostolepis gaboi (Elapomorphini): A Threatened and Poorly Known Species from the Caatinga Region". South American Journal of Herpetology 14 (1): 37–47. Guedes TB, Barbo FE, França D, Zaher H (2018). "Morphological variation of the rare psammophilous species Apostolepis gaboi (Serpentes, Dipsadidae, Elapomorphini)". Zootaxa 4418 (5): 469–480. Lema T (2001). "Fossorial snake genus Apostolepis from South America (Serpentes: Colubidae: Elapomorphinae)". Cuadernos de Herpetología 15 (1): 29–43. Rodrigues MT (1993). "Herpetofauna das dunas interiores do Rio São Francisco: Bahia: Brasil. 5. Duas novas espécies de Apostolepis (Ophidia, Colubridae)". Memórias do Instituto Butantan 54 (2): 53-59. (Apostolepis gaboi, new species). (in Portuguese).