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Lycodonomorphus laevissimus (GÜNTHER, 1862)

IUCN Red List - Lycodonomorphus laevissimus - Least Concern, LC
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Higher TaxaLamprophiidae (Boaedontini), Colubroidea, Caenophidia, Alethinophidia, Serpentes, Squamata (snakes)
Subspecies 
Common NamesE: Dusky-bellied Water Snake 
SynonymNatrix laevissima GÜNTHER 1862: 124
Neusterophis laevissima — GÜNTHER 1863: 16
Tropidonotus laevissimus — BOULENGER 1893: 226
Tropidonotus laevissimus — FITZSIMONS 1912: 82
Neusterophis laevissima — FITZSIMONS 1946
Lycodonomorphus laevissimus — LOVERIDGE 1958
Lycodonomorphus laevissimus — FITZSIMONS 1966
Grayia lubrica SCLATER (fide FITZSIMONS 1966)
Hydrablabes melanogaster WERNER 1923
Lycodonomorphus laevissimus natalensis RAW 1973
Lycodonomorphus laevissimus fitzsimonsi RAW 1973
Lycodonomorphus laevissimus — WALLACH et al. 2014: 406
Lycodonomorphus laevissimus — KEATES et al. 2022 
DistributionRepublic of South Africa (Eastern Cape Province, Natal, SE Transvaal)

fitzsimonsii: Eswatini (Swaziland); Type locality: “Lothair, Ermelo District, SE Transvaal”

natalensis: Republic of South Africa (KwaZulu-Natal); Type locality: “Londen Sream, Hillary, Durban, Natal at an altitude of 65 m asl”

Type locality: 'Probably from East Indies', in error.  
Reproductionoviparous 
TypesType: BMNH 1946.1.12.78 (and possibly additional specimens)
Holotype: DNMNH (= TM) 21261, adult female [fitzsimonsi]
Holotype: NMZB (formerly UM = Umtali Museum) 27057, adult female [natalensis] 
DiagnosisUnfortunately we had to temporarily remove additional information as this was scraped by multiple AI companies who sell that data to their customers. These details, e.g. detailed descriptions or comparisons (about 890 characters), are available for collaborators and contributors. Please contact us for details. 
CommentSynonymy after BOULENGER 1893. Haagner & Branch 1994 consider that only the nominate form is valid, which was followed by Branch 1998 and Maritz in Bates et al. 2014: 366.

Habitat. Fairly common in streams and reservoirs; almost entirely aquatic. 
EtymologyNamed after Latin laevis, smooth; slippery, polished, plain. 
References
  • Bates, M.F.; Branch, W.R., Bauer, A.M.; Burger, M., Marais, J.; Alexander, G.J. & de Villliers, M.S. (eds.) 2014. Atlas and Red List of the Reptiles of South Africa, Lesotho, and Swaziland. Suricata 1. South African National Biodiversity Institute, Pretoria, 512 pp.
  • Boulenger, G.A. 1893. Catalogue of the snakes in the British Museum (Nat. Hist.) I. London (Taylor & Francis), 448 pp. - get paper here
  • Boycott, R.C. 1992. An Annotated Checklist of the Amphibians and Reptiles of Swaziland. The Conservation Trust of Swaziland - get paper here
  • Branch, William R. 1993. A Photographic Guide to Snakes and Other Reptiles of Southern Africa. Cape Town: Struik Publishers, 144 S.
  • FitzSimons, F.W. 1912. The snakes of South Africa : their venom and the treatment of snake bite. William Clowes and Sons, London, 547 pp. - get paper here
  • Fitzsimons, V. 1946. Notes on some African Snakes, including a discription of a new subspecies of Xenocalamus. Annals Transvaal Mus. 20 (4): 379-394 - get paper here
  • Gemel, R.; G. Gassner & S. Schweiger 2019. Katalog der Typen der Herpetologischen Sammlung des Naturhistorischen Museums Wien – 2018. Ann. Naturhist. Mus. Wien, B 121: 33–248 - get paper here
  • Günther, A. 1862. On new species of snakes in the collection of the British Museum. Ann. Mag. nat. Hist. (3) 9: 124-132 - get paper here
  • Günther,A. 1863. On Atheris burtonii, a new snake from West Africa. Proc. Zool. Soc. London 1863: 16-18 - get paper here
  • Haagner G V. Branch W R. 1994. A taxonomic revision of the dusky-bellied water snake, Lycodonomorphus laevissimus (Serpentes: Colubridae). Journal of African Zoology 108 (3): 237- 250
  • Loveridge,A. 1958. Revision of five african snake genera. Bull. Mus. Comp. Zool. Harvard 119: 1-198 (141) - get paper here
  • RABIEGA, P. S. 2018. Lycodonomorphus laevissimus (Günther, 1862). African Herp News (68): 59-61 - get paper here
  • Raw, L.R.G. 1973. A review of the dusky-bellied water snake, Lycodonomorphus laevissimus (Günther), with descriptions of two new subspecies. Ann. Natal Mus. 21: 713-718.
  • Reeves, B., Brooke, C. F., Venter, J. A., & Conradie, W. 2022. The Reptiles and Amphibians of the Mpofu-Fort Fordyce Nature Reserve Complex in the Winterberg Mountains, Eastern Cape Province, South Africa. African Journal of Wildlife Research, 52(1) - get paper here
  • Rupert Wilkey & Sarah Nann 2025. Field Guide to the Snakes of Eswatini. Pelagic, 208 pp., DOI: 10.53061/FWDV3720 - get paper here
  • Tiutenko, A., A. Maliuk & C. Koch 2025. Generic affinities of African house snakes revised: a new genus for Lamprophis inornatus (Serpentes: Lamprophiidae: Lamprophiinae: Boaedontini). Salamandra 61 (2): 215-239
  • Tolley, K.A., Conradie, W., Pietersen, D.W., Weeber, J., Burger, M. & Alexander, G.J. (eds) 2023. Conservation status of the reptiles of South Africa, Eswatini and Lesotho. Suricata 10. South African National Biodiversity Institute, Pretoria
  • 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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