Siebold's water snake

Siebold's water snake (Ferania sieboldii), also known commonly as Siebold's mud snake and Siebold's smooth water snake, is a species of mildly venomous, rear-fanged snake in the family Homalopsidae. The species is endemic to Asia.

Siebold's water snake
Ferania sieboldii
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Reptilia
Order: Squamata
Suborder: Serpentes
Family: Homalopsidae
Genus: Ferania
Species:
F. sieboldii
Binomial name
Ferania sieboldii
(Schlegel, 1837)[2]
Synonyms[3]

Etymology

Both the specific name, sieboldii, and the common name, Siebold's water snake, are in honor of Philipp Franz von Siebold, a German botanist and physician.[4]

Geographic range

F. sieboldii is found in Bangladesh, northcentral India, and western Malaysia.

Habitat

The preferred natural habitat of F. sieboldii is freshwater wetlands.[1]

Description

F. sieboldii has a dorsal pattern of large blotches similar to those of a python, but it is distinctive in having its nostrils on the top of the snout to aid its aquatic lifestyle. It also lacks labial pits.[5]

It may attain a total length (including tail) of 89 cm (35 in). A female of that length had a tail which was 11 cm (4.3 in) long.[6]

Reproduction

F. sieboldii is viviparous.[3]

References
  1. Murphy J, Lobo A (2010). "Enhydris sieboldii ". The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species 2010: e.T176698A7285760. https://dx.doi.org/10.2305/IUCN.UK.2010-4.RLTS.T176698A7285760.en. Downloaded on 25 April 2020.
  2. Schlegel H (1837). Essai sur la physionomie des serpens. Partie Générale. xxviii + 251 pp. AND Partie Descriptive. 606 + xvi pp. Amsterdam: M.H. Schonekat. (Homalopsis sieboldii, new species, pp. 349-350 + Plate XIII, Figures 4 & 5). (in French).
  3. Species Ferania sieboldii at The Reptile Database www.reptile-database.org.
  4. Beolens B, Watkins M, Grayson M (2011). The Eponym Dictionary of Reptiles. Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press. xiii + 296 pp. ISBN 978-1-4214-0135-5. (Enhydris sieboldii, p. 243).
  5. Thakur, Sanjay; Watve, Aparna (2009). "Occurrence of Enhydris sieboldii (SCHLEGEL, 1837) in Bhopal, Madhya Pradesh State of India". Russian Journal of Herpetology 16 (2): 159–160.
  6. Smith MA (1943).

Further reading
  • Boulenger GA (1890). The Fauna of British India, Including Ceylon and Burma. Reptilia and Batrachia. London: Secretary of State for India in Council. (Taylor and Francis, printers). xviii + 541 pp. (Hypsirhina sieboldii, pp. 377–378).
  • Boulenger GA (1896). Catalogue of the Snakes in the British Museum (Natural History). Volume III., Containing the Colubridæ (Opisthoglyphæ and Proteroglyphæ), ... London: Trustees of the British Museum (Natural History). (Taylor and Francis, printers). xiv + 727 pp. + Plates I-XXV. (Hypsirhina sieboldii, pp. 11–12).
  • Duméril A-M-C, Bibron G, Duméril A[-H-A] (1854). Erpétologie générale ou histoire naturelle complète des reptiles. Tome septième. Deuxième partie. Comprenant l'histoire des serpents venimeux. Paris: Roret. xii + pp. 781–1536. (Trigonurus sieboldii, pp. 960–964). (in French).
  • Günther A (1864). The Reptiles of British India. London: The Ray Society. (Taylor and Francis, printers). xxvii + 452 pp. + Plates I-XXVI. (Ferania sieboldii, p. 284).
  • Kumar AB, Sanders KL, George S, Murphy JC (2012). "The status of Eurostus dussumierii and Hypsirhina chinensis (Reptilia, Squamata, Serpentes): with comments on the origin of salt tolerance in homalopsid snakes". Systematics and Biodiversity 10 (4): 479–489. (Ferania sieboldii ).
  • Smith MA (1943). The Fauna of British India, Ceylon and Burma, Including the Whole of the Indo-Chinese Sub-region. Reptilia and Amphibia. Vol. III.—Serpentes. London: Secretary of State for India. (Taylor and Francis, printers). xii + 583 pp. (Enhydris sieboldi, pp. 389–390).
  • Wall F (1908). "Notes on a gravid female of Siebold's watersnake (Hypsirhina sieboldii)". Journal of the Bombay Natural History Society 18: 920.



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