The Acrochordidae, commonly known as wart snakes, Java wart snakes, file snakes, elephant trunk snakes, or dogface snakes are a monogeneric family of snakes. The sole genus Acrochordus is a lineage of aquatic snakes found in Australia and tropical Asia, with three species recognized. Genomic data indicate that the family is the sister group to the other families in the clade Caenophidia.
Description
All are entirely aquatic, lacking the broad belly-scales found in most other snakes and possessing dorsally located eyes. Their most notable feature is their skin and scales. The skin is loose and baggy, giving the impression of being several sizes too large for the snake, and the scales, rather than overlapping, possess tiny pyramidal projections that led to their common names. Adults grow to between in length.
This type of snake are ambush predators, lurking at the bottom of rivers, streams and estuaries, and waiting for fish to approach, which they grip with their coils. The rough scales allow them to hold the fish despite the mucus coating.
Geographic range Found from western India and Sri Lanka through tropical Southeast Asia to the Philippines, south through the Indonesian island group to Timor, east through New Guinea to the northern coast of Australia to Mussau Island, the Bismarck Archipelago and Guadalcanal Island in the Solomon Islands.
Relation to humans These animals are rapidly becoming rare as their hides are used for handbags and leather (stripped of scales, of course). Numerous attempts have been made by both zoos and private reptile collectors to keep them, but in all cases, they have been reluctant to feed and prone to skin infections.
Species Common nameScientific nameIUCN Red List StatusDistributionPictureArafura file snakeAcrochordus arafurae McDowell, 1979New Guinea and northern Australia.Little wart snakeWestern Australian Reptile Species at Frank O'Connor's Birding Western Australia. Accessed 20 September 2007Acrochordus granulatus (Schneider, 1799)Peninsular India, Sri Lanka, Myanmar, the Andaman Islands, Thailand, Cambodia, Vietnam, China, the Philippines, Malaysia, Papua New Guinea, the Solomon Islands, and coastal northern Australia.Elephant trunk snakeAcrochordus javanicus Hornstedt, 1787Southeast Asia from Vietnam, Cambodia and Thailand, south through Malaysia, Singapore and Indonesia (Sumatra, Java and Borneo).
References
External links
Acrochordus.com. Accessed 3 November 2008. Acrochordids at Life is Short but Snakes are Long