Subsessor

Subsessor is a genus of snake in the family Homalopsidae. The genus is monotypic, containing the sole species Subsessor bocourti.[2] The species is commonly known as Bocourt's mud snake or Bocourt's water snake and has traditionally been placed in the genus Enhydris.[1]

Subsessor
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Reptilia
Order: Squamata
Suborder: Serpentes
Family: Homalopsidae
Genus: Subsessor
J.C. Murphy & Voris, 2014
Species:
S. bocourti
Binomial name
Subsessor bocourti
(Jan, 1865)
Synonyms[2]
  • Hypsirhina bocourti
    Jan, 1865
  • Enhydris bocourti
    — M.A. Smith, 1943
  • Subsessor bocourti
    — J.C. Murphy & Voris, 2014
  • Enhydris bocourti
    — Chan-ard et al., 2015

Etymology

Both the specific name, bocourti, and the common name, Bocourt's water snake, refer to French zoologist Marie Firmin Bocourt.[2][3]

Geographic range and habitat

S. bocourti is found in a wide range of stagnant fresh water habitats in Mainland Southeast Asia.[1][2] Records from China are questionable.[2]

Description

A robust snake, S. bocourti can surpass 1 m (3.3 ft) in length.[2]

Reproduction

S. bocourti is a live bearing species,[2] giving birth to, on average, 3-8 fully formed neonate snakes.

Diet

S. bocourti feeds on frogs, fishes, and crustaceans.[2]

Commercial use

Bocourt's water snake is widely caught for its skin and sometimes also eaten.[1]

References
  1. Murphy, J. (2010). "Subsessor bocourti". IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. 2010: e.T176692A7284792. doi:10.2305/IUCN.UK.2010-4.RLTS.T176692A7284792.en. Retrieved 12 November 2021.
  2. Subsessor bocourti at the Reptarium.cz Reptile Database. Accessed 29 December 2016.
  3. 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 bocourti, p. 28).

Further reading
  • 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 bocourtii [sic]", pp. 10–11).
  • Chan-ard, [Mr.] Tanya; Parr, John W. K.; Nabhitabhata, Jarujin (2015). A Field Guide to the Reptiles of Thailand. New York: Oxford University Press. 352 pp. (Enhydris bocourti, p. 239).
  • Jan G (1865). "Enumerazione sistematica degli ofidi appartenenti al gruppo Potamophilidae ". Archivio per la Zoologia, l'Anatomia e la Fisiologia 3 (2): 201-265. (Hypsirhina bocourti, new species, pp. 258–260). (in Italian).
  • Murphy, John C.; Voris, Harold K. (2014). "A Checklist and Key to the Homalopsid Snakes (Reptilia, Squamata, Serpentes), with the Description of New Genera". Fieldiana: Life and Earth Sciences (8): 1-43. (Subsessor, new genus, p. 33; S. bocourti, new combination, p. 34, Figure 50).
  • 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 bocourti, new combination, pp. 388–389).


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