Caribbean versant from central Veracruz and the Sierra de Los Tuxtlas southeastward through southern Tabasco and northern Chiapas, mexico, and the northern mountains of Guatemala to the Sierra de las Minas.
Holotype: destroyed, formerly at Museo civico di Storia naturale di Milano according to Golay et al,, 1993, Endogly. Venom. Snakes world 478pp.[165].
Type-locality: Mexico; restricted to jalapa, Veracruz, Mexico, by Smith and Taylor, 1950, Univ. Kansas Sci. Bull. 33(8):313-380[348]
Two subspecies, namely M. e. elegans (Jan, 1858) and M. e. veraepacis Schmidt, 1933, were recognized by Roze, 1983 [dated 1982], Mem. Inst. Butantan 46:305-338[322], the most recent reviewer.
