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.^[4]

Siebold's water snake
Ferania sieboldii
Conservation status
Least Concern  (IUCN 3.1)[1]
Scientific 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]
Homalopsis sieboldii Schlegel, 1837 Trigonurus sieboldii — A.M.C. Duméril, Bibron & A.H.A. Duméril, 1854 Enhydris sieboldii — Günther, 1864 Hypsirhina sieboldii — Jan, 1868 Feranoides jamnæticus Carlleyle, 1869 Enhydris sieboldi — M.A. Smith, 1943 Ferania sieboldii — Kumar et al., 2012

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.^[5]

Geographic range

F. sieboldii is found in Bangladesh, northcentral India, and western Malaysia.^[6]

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.^[7]

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.^[8]

Reproduction

F. sieboldii is viviparous.^[3]