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Ferania sieboldii (SCHLEGEL, 1837)

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Higher TaxaHomalopsidae, Colubroidea, Caenophidia, Alethinophidia, Serpentes, Squamata (snakes)
Subspecies 
Common NamesE: Siebold’s Mud Snake, Siebold's Water Snake 
SynonymHomalopsis sieboldii SCHLEGEL 1837: 349
Trigonurus Sieboldii — DUMÉRIL & BIBRON 1854: 960
Ferania sieboldii — GÜNTHER 1864: 284
Hypsirhina sieboldii — JAN 1868
Feranioides jamnaetica CARLLEYLE 1869: 196 (fide SMITH 1943)
Ferania sieboldii — ANDERSON 1871: 180
Hypsirhina sieboldii — WALL 1908: 920
Enhydris sieboldi — SMITH 1943: 389
Enhydris sieboldi — DOWLING & JENNER 1988: 4
Enhydris sieboldii — DAS 1996: 56
Enhydris sieboldii — MURPHY 2007: 163
Ferania sieboldii — KUMAR et al. 2012
Ferania sieboldii — MURPHY & VORIS 2014: 19
Ferania sieboldii — WALLACH et al. 2014: 296
Enhydris sieboldii — BORUAH et al. 2020 
DistributionN/C India (Mizoram, Tripura etc), Nepal, Bangladesh, Myanmar, West Malaysia

Type locality: Bengal.  
Reproductionovovivparous 
TypesHolotype: RMNH (also as RNHL = NRM) 1168. 
DiagnosisDiagnosis (genus). Ferania can be distinguished from all other homalopsids with smooth scales and the nasal scales in contact by the combination of: 29 scale rows reduced to 23 or 21 rows in front of the vent; 143–147 broad ventrals; two posterior upper labials horizontally divided, and tail approximately 15% of the body length. It can be distinguished from other Enhydris-like homalopsids with similar dorsal scale row counts as follows: dussumierii (25 or 27 scale rows at midbody reduced to 23 in front of the vent); pakistanica (29 scale rows at midbody reduced to 23–27 rows in front of the vent, ventrals 150–163, head very small, tail 24–41% of the body length); bocourti (29 scale rows at midbody, a single internasal, 120–136 ventrals); doriae (internasal not in contact with loreal; first upper labial not contacting loreal) [KUMAR et al.2 012]. 
CommentDistribution: Possibly in Bhutan (Lenz 2012). Not listed by GRANDISON 1977 for West Malaysia or Singapore.

Type species: Homalopsis sieboldii SCHLEGEL 1837: 349 is the type species of the genus Ferania GRAY 1842. 
EtymologyNamed after Dr. PhiIipp Franz Balthazar von Siebold (1796-1866), a German physician, biologist and botanist. 
References
  • Anderson, J. 1871. On some Indian reptiles. Proc. Zool. Soc. London 1871: 149-211 - get paper here
  • Beolens, Bo; Michael Watkins, and Michael Grayson 2011. The Eponym Dictionary of Reptiles. Johns Hopkins University Press, Baltimore, USA - get paper here
  • Boruah, B., Das, A., Hussain, S. A., & Johnson, J. A. 2020. Assessment of Amphibian and Reptilian Diversity along Ganga River. Wildlife Institute of India - get paper here
  • Boulenger, G.A. 1896. Catalogue of the snakes in the British Museum, Vol. 3. London (Taylor & Francis), xiv + 727 pp. - get paper here
  • Boulenger, George A. 1890. The Fauna of British India, Including Ceylon and Burma. Reptilia and Batrachia. Taylor & Francis, London, xviii, 541 pp. - get paper here
  • Carlleyle, A.C.L. 1869. Descriptions of two new species, belonging to the genera Varanus, and Feranioides respectively, from near Agra. J. Asiat. Soc. Bengal 38: 192-200 - get paper here
  • Das, I. 2012. A Naturalist's Guide to the Snakes of South-East Asia: Malaysia, Singapore, Thailand, Myanmar, Borneo, Sumatra, Java and Bali. Oxford J, ohn Beaufoy Publishing - get paper here
  • Deb, Arnab; Aditya Karmakar, Jayaditya Purkayastha 2023. First record of Siebold’s Watersnake, Ferania sieboldii (Schlegel 1837), from Tripura, India. Reptiles & Amphibians 30 (1): e18686 - get paper here
  • Dowling, H.G., & Jenner, J.V. 1988. Snakes of Burma: checklist of reported species and bibliography. Smithsonian Herp. Inf. Serv. (76): 19 pp. - get paper here
  • Duméril, A. M. C., Bibron, G. & DUMÉRIL, A. H. A., 1854. Erpétologie générale ou histoire naturelle complète des reptiles. Tome septième. Deuxième partie, comprenant l'histoire des serpents venimeux. Paris, Librairie Encyclopédique de Roret: i-xii + 781-1536 - get paper here
  • Gray, J. E. 1842. Monographic Synopsis of the Water Snakes, or the Family of Hydridae. Zoological Miscellany 2: 59-68. - get paper here
  • Kästle , W., Rai, K. & Schleich, H.H. 2013. FIELD GUIDE to Amphibians and Reptiles of Nepal. ARCO-Nepal e.V., 625 pp. - get paper here
  • Kumar, A. Biju; Kate L. Sanders , Sanil George & John C. Murphy 2012. The status of Eurostus dussumierii and Hypsirhina chinensis (Reptilia, Squamata, Serpentes): with comments on the origin of salt tolerance in homalopsid snakes. Systematics and Biodiversity 10 (4): 479-489 - get paper here
  • Lalremsanga, H.T.; Saipari Sailo and Chinliansiama 2011. Diversity of Snakes (Reptilia: Squamata) and Role of Environmental Factors in Their Distribution in Mizoram, Northeast India. Advances in Environmental Chemistry - get paper here
  • Lenz, Norbert 2012. Von Schmetterlingen und Donnerdrachen - Natur und Kultur in Bhutan. Karlsruher Naturhefte 4, Naturkundemuseum Karlsruhe, 124 pp.
  • Murphy, J.C. & Voris, H.K. 2014. A Checklist and Key to the Homalopsid Snakes (Reptilia, Squamata, Serpentes), with the Description of New Genera. FIELDIANA: LIFE AND EARTH SCIENCES (8): 1–43 - get paper here
  • Murphy, John C. 2007. Homalopsid Snakes: Evolution in the Mud. Krieger Publishing, Malabar, Florida, 249 pp.
  • Pandey, Deb Prasad 2018. New records of snakes from Chitwan National Park and vicinity, Central Nepal. Herpetology Notes 11: 679-696 - get paper here
  • Rawat, Y.B., S. Bhattarai, L.P. Poudyal & N. Subedi 2020. Herpetofauna of Shuklaphanta National Park, Nepal. Journal of Threatened Taxa 12(5): 15587–15611 - get paper here
  • Schlegel, H. 1837. Essai sur la physionomie des serpens. Partie Descriptive. La Haye (J. Kips, J. HZ. et W. P. van Stockum), 606 S. + xvi - get paper here
  • Sharma, R. C. 2004. Handbook Indian Snakes. AKHIL BOOKS, New Delhi, 292 pp.
  • Smith, M.A. 1943. The Fauna of British India, Ceylon and Burma, Including the Whole of the Indo-Chinese Sub-Region. Reptilia and Amphibia. 3 (Serpentes). Taylor and Francis, London. 583 pp.
  • Srivastava, D.P.; Sameer Gautam, Mohan Singh, Umendra Sirohi, Debanik Mukherjee, Faiyaz A. Khudsar 2020. First resighting since the 1940s of Siebold’s Watersnake, Ferania sieboldii (Schlegel 1837), in Delhi, India. IRCF Reptiles & Amphibians 27 (3): 525-527 - get paper here
  • Thakur, Sanjay and Aparna Watve 2009. Occurrence of Enhydris sieboldii (Schlegel, 1837) in Bhopal, Madhya Pradesh State of India. Russ. J. Herpetol. 16 (2): 159-160 - get paper here
  • Wall, F. 1907. Notes on Snakes collected in Fyzabad. J. Bombay Nat. Hist. Soc. 18: 101-129 - get paper here
  • Wall,F. 1908. Notes on a gravid female of Siebold's Water Snake (Hypsirhina Sieboldii.). J. Bombay nat. Hist. Soc. 18: 920 - get paper here
  • Wallach, Van; Kenneth L. Williams , Jeff Boundy 2014. Snakes of the World: A Catalogue of Living and Extinct Species. [type catalogue] Taylor and Francis, CRC Press, 1237 pp.
  • Whitaker, Romulus and Ashok Captain 2004. Snakes of India. Draco Books, 500 pp., reprinted 2007 - get paper here
 
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