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Homalopsis buccata (LINNAEUS, 1758)

IUCN Red List - Homalopsis buccata - Least Concern, LC
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Higher TaxaHomalopsidae, Colubroidea, Caenophidia, Alethinophidia, Serpentes, Squamata (snakes)
Subspecies 
Common NamesE: Linne’s Water Snake, Puff-faced Water Snake, Masked Water Snake
G: Boa-Wassertrugnatter 
SynonymColuber buccatus LINNAEUS 1758: 217
Coluber monilis LINNAEUS 1758: 221
Vipera buccata — DAUDIN 1803
Coluber horridus DAUDIN 1803
Homalopsis horridus — KUHL & HASSELT 1822
Homalopsis monilis — BOIE 1827
Homalopsis buccata — SCHLEGEL 1837
Homalopsis buccatus — DUMÉRIL & BIBRON 1854: 968
Homalopsis buccata — DE ROOIJ 1917: 186
Homalopsis buccata — MANTHEY & GROSSMANN 1997: 356
Homalopsis buccata — COX et al. 1998: 42
Homalopsis buccata — NGUYEN et al. 2009
Homalopsis buccata — MURPHY & VORIS 2014: 24
Homalopsis buccata — WALLACH et al. 2014: 334 
DistributionBangladesh; Cambodia; Thailand; Vietnam;
Indonesia (Bangka, Belitung, Borneo, Java, Kalimantan, Riau Archipelago, Sulawesi, Sumatra, Natuna islands);
Laos; W Malaysia (Malaya); Singapore;
NE India ?; Nepal; Pulau Bangka

Type locality: “Indiis” (in error; given erroneously as “India” by MANTHEY & GROSSMANN 1997); restricted to Singapore by by MURPHY et al. 2012.  
Reproductionovovivparous 
TypesNeotype: FMNH 250114 (designated by MURPHY et al. 2012); Holotype: originally NRM (was ZIUS), lost (fide Andersson 1899, SANG et al. 2009) 
DiagnosisDiagnosis (genus): Homalopsis can be distinguished from all other Southeast Asian snakes by their keeled and striated scales in 33–49 rows at midbody; crescent-shaped valvular nostrils; lower labials posterior to the eye are horizon- tally divided; and enlarged plates (frontal and parietals) on the crown. Snakes of the genus Cerberus are the species most likely to be confused with Homalopsis; however, Cerberus have fewer than 30 scales rows at midbody and the frontal and parietals are ‘fragmented’ into small irregular scales [MURPHY et al. 2012].


Additional details (1478 characters) are available for collaborators and contributors. Please contact us for details. 
CommentSubspecies: Homalopsis buccata nigroventralis DEUVE 1970 has been elevated to full species status.

Distribution: The latest record of this species from Sulawesi is from DE ROOIJ, 1917. DE LANG & VOGEL (2005) thus consider this species as doubtful for this island. Reports from Nepal are based on Zug & Mitchell 1995. Records from Myanmar appear to represent H. semizonata.

Diet: fish, frogs, crustaceans

Type species: Coluber horridus DAUDIN 1803 is the type species of the genus Homalopsis KUHL & VAN HASSELT 1822.

Type genus: Homalopsis KUHL & VAN HASSELT 1822 is the type genus of the family Homalopsidae.

Phylogenetics: see Bernstein et al. 2023 for a phylogeny of the family.

Conservation: Homalopsis is harvested in large numbers at Tonle Sap, Cambodia for its skin and protein (Brooks et al. 2007, 2008, 2009, 2010; Murphy 2007).

Key: Köhler et al. 2021 provide a key to the homalopsid species in Myanmar. 
References
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