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Fordonia leucobalia (SCHLEGEL, 1837)

IUCN Red List - Fordonia leucobalia - Least Concern, LC
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Higher TaxaHomalopsidae, Colubroidea, Caenophidia, Alethinophidia, Serpentes, Squamata (snakes)
Subspecies 
Common NamesE: Crab-eating (Water) Snake, White-bellied mangrove snake
G: Krebs-Wassertrugnatter 
SynonymHomalopsis leucobalia SCHLEGEL 1837: 345
Fordonia leucobalia — GRAY 1842
Fordonia unicolor GRAY 1849
Hemiodontus leucobalia — DUMÉRIL & BIBRON 1854: 884
Hemiodontus chalybaeus JAN 1863
Fordonia bicolor THEOBALD 1868
Fordonia papuensis MACLEAY 1877
Fordonia varabilis MACLEAY 1878
Hemiodontus leucobalia — MÜLLER 1880
Fordonia leucobalia — TAYLOR 1922: 115
Fordonia leucobalia — SMITH 1943: 396
Fordonia leucobalia — MANTHEY & GROSSMANN 1997: 352
Fordonia leucobalia — COX et al. 1998: 39
Fordonia leucobalia — COGGER 2000: 625
Fordonia leucobalia — NGUYEN et al. 2009
Fordonia leucobalia — MURPHY & VORIS 2014: 20
Fordonia leucobalia — WALLACH et al. 2014: 298
Fordonia leucobalia — EIPPER & EIPPER 2024: 285 
DistributionAustralia (Northern Territory, Queensland, Western Australia)
Bangladesh;
India (Bengal);
Indonesia (Borneo, Irian Jaya, Seram = Ceram, Sumatra, Java; Timor, Ambon); Timor-Leste,
Malaysia (Malaya and East Malaysia);
Myanmar (Burma),
Papua New Guinea
Philippines (Mindanao);
Singapore;
Thailand, Cambodia, Vietnam

Type locality: Timor (Indonesia)  
Reproductionovovivparous 
TypesHolotype: RMNH 1161 
DiagnosisDiagnosis (genus): Upper labials 5 or 6, third enters orbit; loreal usually absent; scales in ocular ring plate-like; frontal shorter than parietal scales; rear fangs robust, grooved, dorsal pattern uniform slate gray or mottled with red, brown, black, and white (or some combination of these colors) (MURPHY & VORIS 2014). 
CommentSynonymy after COGGER 1983. Has been reported from the Nicobar Islands but is not listed by DAS 1999 for the Nicobar Islands.

Habitat: at least partially coastal and thus considered (partially) “marine”.

Diet: crustaceans

Type species: Homalopsis leucobalia SCHLEGEL 1837 is the type species of the genus Fordonia GRAY 1842.

Reference images: see Uetz et al. 2024 for high-resolution reference images for this species. 
EtymologyPresumably named after the Greek leukos (white) plus balios (dappled), referring to the coloration. (G. Shea, pers. comm., 9 Feb 2024) 
References
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