Back is light brown or greyish brown, with a series of dark brown lateral triangles on each side. The two pointed tops of the two opposite triangles meet each other at the mid-line, forming a series of about twenty light brown, squarish blotches on the back. A row of large black spots extends along each side near the belly. The top and upper sides of the head are uniformly black, with a black streak from the eye to the angle of the mouth; yellowish below, spotted with dark brown. The young are much lighter than the adults with essentially the same pattern. The head is large, triangular, with an upturned snout. The body is very stout. The tail is short, ending in a compressed, pointed slightly curved cornified scale. The top of the head is covered with nine large shields. Dorsal scales are strongly and tubercularly keeled. The subcaudals are mostly in pairs, some of the anterior ones are single. This stout snake, usually between 0.8 and 1.0 metre (2.6 and 3.3 ft) long, reaches a maximum length of 1.57 metres (5.2 ft) in males and 1.41 metres (4.6 ft) in females. The largest specimen on record measured approximately 61 inches or 1.549 metres (5.08 ft).
Common Names : Sharp-nosed viper, snorkel viper, hundred pacer, Chinese moccasin. Chinese copperhead, five-pacer, hundred-pace snake, long-nosed pit viper, sharp-nosed pit viper, hundred-pace pitviper.
