Gerarda prevostiana

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Gerard's Water Snake
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Reptilia
Order: Squamata
Suborder: Serpentes
Family: Colubridae
Genus: Gerarda
Species: prevostiana
Binomial name
Gerarda prevostiana
(Eydoux & Gervais, 1822)

Gerard's Water Snake, Cat-eyed Water Snake Gerarda prevostiana is a species of water snake found in Asia. They feed almost exclusively on crabs. (Jayne et al. 2002).

Contents

[edit] Description

Frontal a little longer than broad, shorter than its distance from the end of the snout, or than the parietals; loreal slightly longer than deep, a little smaller than the nasal; one pre- and two post-oculars ; temporals 1+2; upper labials 8, fourth entering the eye; 4 lower labials in contact with the anterior chin-shields, which are much larger than the posterior. Scales in 17 rows. Ventrals 146-158; anal divided; subcaudals 31-34. Uniform dark olive above; three outer rows of scales whitish; upper lip white, rostral dark olive; ventrals and subcaudals whitish, with dark edges.[1]

Total length 16 inches; tail 2.

[edit] Distribution

India, Myanmar (= Burma), Sri Lanka, Thailand, Philippine Islands (?)
Bangladesh; West Malaysia; Singapore.

[edit] Notes

  1. ^ Boulenger, G. A. 1890. Fauna of British India. Reptilia and Batrachia. Taylor & Francis, London. p. 379

[edit] References

  • Eydoux, F. & P. Gervais 1822 Voyage de la Favourite. Reptiles. Mag. Zool. Guérin, Paris, 111: 1 - 10
  • Jayne, B. C., Voris, H. K. & Ng, P. K. L. 2002 Snake circumvents constraints on prey size. Nature 418: 143

[edit] External links

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