Rice paddy snake

Rice paddy snake
Hypsiscopus plumbea from Phetchabun Province, West Thailand
Conservation status
Least Concern (IUCN 3.1)
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Chordata
Class:	Reptilia
Order:	Squamata
Suborder:	Serpentes
Family:	Homalopsidae
Genus:	Hypsiscopus
Species:	H. plumbea
Binomial name
Hypsiscopus plumbea (F. Boie, 1827)
Synonyms
Homalopsis plumbea F. Boie, 1827 Coluber plumbeus — Eydoux & Gervais, 1837 Hypsirhina plumbea — Gray, 1842 Eurostus plumbeus — A.M.C. Duméril, Bibron & A.H.A. Duméril, 1854 Enhydris plumbea — Stejneger, 1898

Hypsiscopus plumbea, commonly known by a variety of common names including the rice paddy snake, grey water snake, Boie's mud snake, yellow or orange bellied water snake, lead water snake or plumbeous water snake is a species of mildly venomous, rear-fanged snake endemic to South Asia. It is somewhat common, and is one of the most widespread species of water snake in Asia.

Geographic range

H. plumbea is found in the Andaman Islands (India), Myanmar, Thailand, Cambodia, Laos, Malaysia, Indonesia, Vietnam, southern China, and Taiwan.

Habitat

The rice paddy snake is a common and abundant species associated with a variety of wet habitats.

Taxonomy & Nomenclature

The species epithet, plumbea, which means 'lead-like', and refers to the snake's greyish upper body.

The Chinese name for the species, 鉛色水蛇, means "lead-coloured water snake".

DNA evidence suggests that this taxon might be a species complex.

Description

The rice paddy snake is a relatively small snake, reaching a total length (including tail) of up to 72 cm (28 in), although sources vary.This snake feeds readily on small fish, frogs, and occasionally small lizards. It has countershading coloration, which is dark brown to grey in the upper part of its body, and light colored white to yellowish color at the bottom of its body. In some populations, the upper part may be greenish, and dark spots along the vertebral line may also occur. The head isIt is mainly nocturnal.

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  Hypiscopus plumbea at Nong Phai District, Phetchabun Province, Thailand

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  Hypiscopus plumbea
  from Karawang, West Java

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  Plumbeous water snake being eaten by Scolopendra dehaani, a species of large centipede.

Further reading

• Boie, F. (1827). "Bemerkungen über Merrem's Versuch eines Systems der Amphibien, 1. Lieferung: Ophidier ". Isis van Oken [Jena] 20: 508–566. (Homalopsis plumbea, new species, p. 550).
• Boulenger, G.A. (1896). Catalogue of the Snakes in the British Museum (Natural History). Volume III., Containing the Colubridæ (Opisthoglyphæ and Proteroglyphæ), ... London: Trustees of the British Museum (Natural History). (Taylor and Francis, printers). xiv + 727 pp. + Plates I-XXV. (Hypsirhina plumbea, pp. 5–6).
• Das, Indraneil. (2006). A Photographic Guide to Snakes and Other Reptiles of Borneo. Sanibel Island, Florida: Ralph Curtis Books. 144 pp. ISBN 0-88359-061-1. (Enhydris plumbea, p. 34).
• Ghodke, Sameer; Harry V. Andrews. (2002). Enhydris plumbea (Boie, 1827) (Serpentes: Colubridae: Homalopsinae), a new record for India. Hamadryad 26 (2): 373–375. [2001]
• Gray, J.E. (1842). Monographic Synopsis of the Water Snakes, or the Family Hydridae. Zoological Miscellany 1842: 59–68. (Hypsirhina plumbea, p. 66).
• Smith, M.A. (1943). The Fauna of British India, Ceylon and Burma, Including the Whole of the Indo-Chinese Sub-region. Reptilia and Amphibia. Vol. III.—Serpentes. London: Secretary of State for India. (Taylor and Francis, printers). xii + 583 pp. (Enhydris plumbea, pp. 382–383, Figure 122).
• Stejneger, Leonard. (1907). Herpetology of Japan and Adjacent Territory. United States National Museum Bulletin 58. Washington, District of Columbia: Smithsonian Institution. xx + 577 pp. (Enhydris plumbea, pp. 300–302, Figures 260–262).
• Voris, Harold K.; Karns, Daryl R. (1996). Habitat utilization, movements, and activity patterns of Enhydris plumbea (Serpentes: Homalopsinae) in a rice paddy wetland in Borneo. Herpetological Natural History 4 (2): 111–126.