Homalopsis buccata

Puff-faced Water Snake
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Reptilia
Order: Squamata
Suborder: Serpentes
Infraorder: Caenophidia
Family: Colubridae
Subfamily: Homalopsinae
Genus: Homalopsis
Species: H. buccata
Binomial name
Homalopsis buccata
(Linnaeus, 1758)

Puff-faced Water Snake or Masked Water Snake (Homalopsis buccata) is a species of water snake found in tropical areas of South and Southeast Asia.

Description

Inter nasals smaller than prefrontals; frontal often broken up into small shields, a little broader or sometimes narrower than the supraocular; parietals short; loreal present, sometimes divided; one or two pre- and two postoculars; one to three suboculars may be present; temporals small; ten to twelve upper labials, fifth or sixth entering the eye or narrowly separated from it; two or three pair of chin-shields, inner in contact with the three anterior lower labials. Scales in 37–47 rows; ventrals 158–176; anal divided; subcaudals 70–106. Dark brown above, with narrow, pale brown, black-edged transverse bands, in young specimens yellow; head pale with a triangular or V-shaped dark marking on the snout, a A-shaped spot on the occiput, and a dark band on each side passing through the eye and extending to before the eye. Lower surface white or yellowish, with dark brown spots along each side; tail with brown spots. Length of head and body 820 mm.; tail 230 mm. Eats fish and frogs.[1]

Distribution

Notes

  1. Rooij, Nelly de 1915. Reptiles of the Indo-Australian Archipelago. Leiden.

References

External links

This article is issued from Wikipedia - version of the Saturday, February 07, 2015. The text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share Alike but additional terms may apply for the media files.