Gerrhopilus ater

The black blind snake is Gerrhopilus ater, the type species of its genus. Its range includes Java, Sulawesi, Ternate, Bali and western New Guinea. Like other Gerrhopilus, it has gland-like structures scattered over scales of the head, and the second upper lip scale overlaps the preocular region. The name ater is Latin for dark or black (Reptile Database diagnosis and etymology).

This species lays eggs. It was long listed as Typhlops ater before anatomical and molecular work placed it in Gerrhopilus and the family Gerrhopilidae. The accessible catalogue notes substantial genetic divergence within the genus but withholds the species' fuller diagnosis. It provides no direct diet, burrowing depth, habitat, activity, adult size, clutch or incubation values, so those details remain unspecified (Reptile Database taxonomic account).