Lycodonomorphus

Lycodonomorphus is a genus of snakes commonly referred to as African water snakes. They are small, nonvenomous snakes, with all members being endemic to Africa, especially Tanzania.^[2]

Lycodonomorphus
L. inornatus, the Olive House Snake
Scientific classification
Domain:	Eukaryota
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Chordata
Class:	Reptilia
Order:	Squamata
Suborder:	Serpentes
Family:	Lamprophiidae
Subfamily:	Lamprophiinae
Genus:	Lycodonomorphus (Lichtenstein, 1823)[1]
Species
Nine recognized species, see text.

Species

The following nine species are recognized as being valid.^[3]

• Lycodonomorphus bicolor (Günther, 1893) — Tanganyika white-bellied water snake
• Lycodonomorphus inornatus (A.M.C. Duméril, Bibron & A.H.A. Duméril, 1854)^[4] — Olive house snake, Olive ground snake
• Lycodonomorphus laevissimus (Günther, 1862) — Dusky-bellied water snake
• Lycodonomorphus leleupi (Laurent, 1950) — Congo dark-bellied water snake, Mulanje water snake
• Lycodonomorphus mlanjensis Loveridge, 1953 — Mlanje white-bellied water snake
• Lycodonomorphus obscuriventris V. FitzSimons, 1963 — Floodplain water snake
• Lycodonomorphus rufulus (Lichtenstein, 1823) — Common brown water snake
• Lycodonomorphus subtaeniatus Laurent, 1954 — Eastern Congo white-bellied water snake, Lined water snake
• Lycodonomorphus whytii (Boulenger, 1897)^[5] — Whyte's water snake

Nota bene: A binomial authority in parentheses indicates that the species was originally described in a genus other than Lycodonomorphus.

Etymology

The specific name, whytii, is in honor of British naturalist Alexander Whyte (1834–1908), who worked in Nyasaland (now Malawi) from 1891 to 1897.^[6]