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Family : HOMALOPSIDAE
Species : Subsessor bocourti
(formerly Enhydris bocourti)
Maximum Size : Females to 138 cm, males to 89 cm
(at Thale Noi, southern Thailand) (Murphy, 2007)
Subsessor bocourti (Bocourt's Mud Snake),
formerly Enhydris bocourti, is one of the largest of all snakes in
the Homalopsidae family. It is known
to occur in Vietnam, Cambodia, southern Thailand and parts of northern Peninsular
Malaysia. The type locality (i.e. the locale from where the first specimen
to be described, in 1865, was sourced) is Bangkok, Thailand.
In Thale Noi, the large freshwater lake at the north of the Songkhla lakes
ecosystem, Thailand, a maximum size of 138 cm (total
length) has been recorded for females, and 89 cm for males (Murphy, 2007).
Its body shape is thick and robust, which probably makes it
the heaviest of all homalopsines.
Its scales are smooth and reflective, in contrast to those of Homalopsis
buccata (Puff-faced Water Snake), another large homalopsine; in the
latter the scales
are strongly keeled and striated and much less reflective.
The head is short and the snout is blunt. Its dorsal surface is brown, with
faint, narrow transverse bars, and its ventral surface creamy yellow. A
series of dark, inverted triangular markings extend from the dorsum onto the
flanks. The tail is short.
This impressive snake inhabits a variety of waterbodies including swamps,
small pools, shallow lakes and rice paddies (Murphy, 2007).
It has been documented preying upon a species of freshwater catfish, Mystus
mysticetus, and the Asian Swamp
Eel, Monopterus albus/javanensis (Murphy, 2007).
In Tonlé Sap, the vast seasonal lake in central Cambodia, the species is
harvested (mainly as a bycatch from fish traps) and sold to snake traders;
it is used as a food source, and the skins are used in the leather
industry (English et al, 2022).
Figs 1 and 2 : Example from Tonlé Sap, Cambodia. Photos
thanks to Derek Clark.
Fig 3 : The margin and flooded hinterland of Tonlé
Sap taken in September 2015, in the latter part of the rainy season.
References :
English, M., Winters, K., Lasater, M., Dainty, M., Meyerhoff, M., &
Wagner, P. (2022). A dry season glimpse of watersnake. Cambodian Journal of
Natural History, 38.
Murphy, J. C. (2007). Homalopsid Snakes. Evolution in the Mud (Kreiger,
Melbourne, FL). 250 pp.
Links :
Wikipedia
- Tonlé Sap
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