Smith's mountain keelback (Opisthotropis spenceri), also known commonly as Spencer's stream snake, www.reptile-database.org. is a species of snake in the family Colubridae. The species is endemic to Thailand.
Etymology The specific name, spenceri, is in honor of Mr. F.D. Spencer who collected the type specimen.Beolens B, Watkins M, Grayson M (2011). The Eponym Dictionary of Reptiles. Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press. xiii + 296 pp. . (Opisthotropis spenceri, pp. 249-250).
Habitat The preferred natural habitat of O. spenceri is flowing streams.
Description O. spenceri may attain a total length (including tail) of . Dorsally, it is olive-colored. Ventrally it is yellowish white on the body, with gray mottling on the tail. It has smooth dorsal scales, which are arranged in 17 rows.Smith MA (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. (Opisthotropis spenceri, p. 333).
Behavior O. spenceri is aquatic and nocturnal.
Diet O. spenceri preys upon freshwater shrimp, earthworms, fishes, frogs, and tadpoles.
Reproduction O. spenceri is oviparous.
References
Further reading Chan-ard T, Parr JWK, Nabhitabhata J (2015). A Field Guide to the Reptiles of Thailand. New York: Oxford University Press. 352 pp. (hardcover), (paperback). Chuaynkern Y, Duengkae P, Pongcharoen C, Chuaynkern C, Horsin L (2014). "Opisthotropis spenceri SMITH, 1918 (SERPENTES: NATRICIDAE): THE THIRD AND FOURTH SPECIMENS". Journal of Wildlife in Thailand 21 (1): 1–14. Smith MA (1918). "Description of a New Snake (Opisthotropis spenceri) from Siam". Journal of the Natural History Society of Siam 3 (1): 13 + plate.