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Fowlea asperrima (BOULENGER, 1891)

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Higher TaxaColubridae (Natricinae), Colubroidea, Caenophidia, Alethinophidia, Serpentes, Squamata (snakes)
Subspecies 
Common NamesE: Boulenger's Keelback 
SynonymTropidonotus asperrimus BOULENGER 1891: 281
Tropidonotus umbratus — KELAART 1852 (non DAUDIN 1803)
Tropidonotus quincunciatus var. δ — GÜNTHER 1858 (partim)
Tropidonotus quincunciatus var. δ — GÜNTHER 1864 (partim)
Tropidonotus quincunciatus — FERGUSON 1877 [partim]
Tropidonotus quincunciatus — MÜLLER 1887 [partim]
Tropidonotus asperrimus — BOULENGER 1891
Tropidonotus asperrimus — BOULENGER 1893: 232
Tropidonotus piscator — WALL 1921 [partim]
Natrix piscator asperrimus — SMITH 1943 [partim]
Natrix piscator asperrimus — DERANIYAGALA 1955 [partim]
Natrix piscator asperrimus — DE SILVA 1969 [partim]
Natrix asperrimus — TAYLOR 1950: 567
Xenochrophis asperrimus — DAS 1996: 59
Xenochrophis asperrimus — VOGEL & DAVID 2006
Xenochrophis asperrimus — WALLACH et al. 2014: 797
Fowlea asperrimus — PURKAYASTHA et al. 2019
Fowlea asperrima — AMARASINGHE et al. 2022 
DistributionSri Lanka

Type locality: Ceylon; lectotype locality: Candy (Kandy; 7°17’24.37’’N, 80°38’14.77’’E; datum = WGS84; 540 m above sea level), Kandy District, Central Province, Sri Lanka.  
Reproductionoviparous 
TypesLectotype: NHMUK 1946.1.7.60 = BMNH, adult female
Paralectotypes: NHMUK 1946.1.7.61, 1946.1.12.73–75, 1946.1.12.83, 1946.1.13.33–34, 1946.1.14.50, 1946.1.15.17, 1946.1.15.22– 23, from Ceylon (Sri Lanka) and NHMUK 1946.1.15.30 from Pundaluoya, Nuwara Eliya District, Sri Lanka.
Other material (n = 22). NHMUK 1982.600–601, 1946.1.13.36, 1946.1.13.39–40, ZMB 14299, NMB 721–2, from Ceylon (Sri Lanka); NHMUK 1905.3.25.85 from Pundaluoya, Nuwara Eliya District; FMNH 121493 from Western Sri Lanka; ZMH R07929 from Wakwella, South-west Sri Lanka; WHT 2232, male from Kottawa, Galle District; NHMUK 1931.5.13.35, 1931.5.13.37–38, 1931.5.13.41–42, 1946.1.12.85, ZMH R07923, R07934, R07936, from Ceylon (Sri Lanka); and NHMUK 1910.3.16.24 from Galle, Galle District, Sri Lanka. 
DiagnosisAdditional details, e.g. a detailed description or comparisons (2492 characters), are available for collaborators and contributors. Please contact us for details. 
CommentSynonymy: Has been confused with Xenochrophis piscator (see WALL 1921: 91 for comment). Smith (1943) regardced it as a color variation of X. piscator.

Distribution: see map in Amarasinghe et al. 2022: 213 (Fig. 9).

Genome: Ruchira et al. 2025. 
References
  • Amarasinghe, A. A., Bandara, S. K., Weerakkody, S., Campbell, P. D., Marques, D. A., Danushka, A. D., ... & Vogel, G. 2022. Systematics of the Sri Lankan Water Snakes of the Genus Fowlea Theobald 1868 (Reptilia: Natricidae). Herpetologica 78(3) : 201-219 - get paper here
  • Boulenger, G.A. 1891. Description of new oriental reptiles & batrachians. Ann. Mag. Nat. Hist. (7) 6: 279-283 - get paper here
  • Boulenger, G.A. 1893. Catalogue of the snakes in the British Museum (Nat. Hist.) I. London (Taylor & Francis), 448 pp. - get paper here
  • Das, I. & De Silva, A. 2005. Photographic guide to snakes and other reptiles of Sri Lanka. New Holland Publishers, 144 pp.
  • de Silva, A. 1998. Snakes of Sri Lanka: a checklist and an annotated bibliography. Dept. Wildlife Conservation/ GEF /UNDP/ FAO, Colombo.
  • Janzen, P.; Klaas, P. & Ziesmann, S. 2007. Sri Lankas Schlangenfauna. Draco 7 (30): 56-64 - get paper here
  • Jayaneththi, Hareschandra Bandula 2015. Vertebrate fauna of Morankanda-Mukalana secondary forest patch in Sri Lanka: A checklist reported from 2004-2008 survey. RUHUNA JOURNAL OF SCIENCE 6: 21- 41 - get paper here
  • Karunarathna, Suranjan D. M. S. and A. A. Thasun Amarasinghe 2011. A PRELIMINARY SURVEY OF THE REPTILE FAUNA IN NILGALA FOREST AND ITS VICINITY, MONARAGALA DISTRICT, SRI LANKA. Taprobanica 3 (2): 69-76 - get paper here
  • Purkayastha, Jayaditya; JATIN KALITA, Rajeev Kungur Brahma, Robin Doley, MADHURIMA DAS 2018. A review of the relationships of Xenochrophis cerasogaster Cantor, 1839 (Serpentes: Colubridae) to its congeners. Zootaxa 4514 (1): 126-136, DOI: 10.11646/zootaxa.4514.1.10 - get paper here
  • Pyron, R. Alexander; H.K. Dushantha Kandambi, Catriona R. Hendry, Vishan Pushpamal, Frank T. Burbrink, Ruchira Somaweera 2013. Genus-level phylogeny of snakes reveals the origins of species richness in Sri Lanka. Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution 66 (3): 969-978 - get paper here
  • RODRIGO, R.K.; U.K.G.K. PADMALAL, C.N.B. BAMBARADENIYA, V.A.M.P.K SAMARAWICKRAMA, N. PERERA, M.S.J. PERERA, T.N. PERIES 2006. COMPARISON OF HERPETOFAUNAL DIVERSITY IN THREE WETLAND IN HABITATS THE SOUTH-EAST COAST OF SRI LANKA. Wildlanka 1 (1): - get paper here
  • 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.
  • Somaweera, R., Pirro, S., & Pyron, R. A. 2025. The Complete Genome Sequences of 26 Species of Sri Lankan Snakes. Biodiversity Genomes - get paper here
  • Taylor, Edward H. 1950. The snakes of Ceylon. Univ. Kansas Sci. Bull. 33 (14): 519-603 - get paper here
  • Vogel, G. & Patrick David 2006. On the taxonomy of the Xenochrophis piscator complex (Serpentes, Natricidae). Herpetologica Bonnensis II: 241-246 - get paper here
  • VOGEL, Gernot & Patrick DAVID 2012. A revision of the species group of Xenochrophis piscator (Schneider, 1799) (Squamata: Natricidae). Zootaxa 3473: 1–60 - get paper here
  • Wall, FRANK 1921. Ophidia Taprobanica or the Snakes of Ceylon. Colombo Mus. (H. R. Cottle, govt. printer), Colombo. xxii, 581 pages - 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.
 
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