The Acrochordidae, commonly known as wart snakes,
Java wart snakes,
file snakes, elephant trunk snakes, or dogface snakes are a monogeneric
family
Family (from la, familia) is a Social group, group of people related either by consanguinity (by recognized birth) or Affinity (law), affinity (by marriage or other relationship). The purpose of the family is to maintain the well-being of its ...
created for the
genus
Genus ( plural genera ) is a taxonomic rank used in the biological classification of extant taxon, living and fossil organisms as well as Virus classification#ICTV classification, viruses. In the hierarchy of biological classification, genus com ...
''Acrochordus''. This is a group of basal aquatic snakes found in Australia and tropical Asia. Currently, three species are recognized.
Description
![Arafura File Snake (Acrochordus arafurae) (8851310937)](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/d/da/Arafura_File_Snake_%28Acrochordus_arafurae%29_%288851310937%29.jpg)
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, are tiny pyramidal projections that led to their common names.
These snakes 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. Adults grow to between 60 cm and 2.43 m in length.
Geographic range
Found from western
India
India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the so ...
and
Sri Lanka
Sri Lanka (, ; si, ශ්රී ලංකා, Śrī Laṅkā, translit-std=ISO (); ta, இலங்கை, Ilaṅkai, translit-std=ISO ()), formerly known as Ceylon and officially the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka, is an ...
through tropical
Southeast Asia
Southeast Asia, also spelled South East Asia and South-East Asia, and also known as Southeastern Asia, South-eastern Asia or SEA, is the geographical United Nations geoscheme for Asia#South-eastern Asia, south-eastern region of Asia, consistin ...
to the
Philippines
The Philippines (; fil, Pilipinas, links=no), officially the Republic of the Philippines ( fil, Republika ng Pilipinas, links=no),
* bik, Republika kan Filipinas
* ceb, Republika sa Pilipinas
* cbk, República de Filipinas
* hil, Republ ...
, south through the
Indonesia
Indonesia, officially the Republic of Indonesia, is a country in Southeast Asia and Oceania between the Indian and Pacific oceans. It consists of over 17,000 islands, including Sumatra, Java, Sulawesi, and parts of Borneo and New Guine ...
n island group to
Timor
Timor is an island at the southern end of Maritime Southeast Asia, in the north of the Timor Sea. The island is East Timor–Indonesia border, divided between the sovereign states of East Timor on the eastern part and Indonesia on the western p ...
, east through
New Guinea
New Guinea (; Hiri Motu
Hiri Motu, also known as Police Motu, Pidgin Motu, or just Hiri, is a language of Papua New Guinea, which is spoken in surrounding areas of Port Moresby (Capital of Papua New Guinea).
It is a simplified version of ...
to the northern coast of Australia to
Mussau Island
Mussau Island is the largest island of St Matthias Islands, Papua New Guinea, at . It is currently part of the New Ireland Province of Papua New Guinea. The island is a noted Biodiversity hotspot with pristine primeval
Primeval may refer to:
* ...
, the
Bismarck Archipelago
The Bismarck Archipelago (, ) is a group of islands off the northeastern coast of New Guinea in the western Pacific Ocean and is part of the Islands Region of Papua New Guinea. Its area is about 50,000 square km.
History
The first inhabitants o ...
and
Guadalcanal Island
Guadalcanal (; indigenous name: ''Isatabu'') is the principal island in Guadalcanal Province of Solomon Islands, located in the south-western Pacific, northeast of Australia. It is the largest island in the Solomon Islands by area, and the sec ...
in the
Solomon Islands
Solomon Islands is an island country consisting of six major islands and over 900 smaller islands in Oceania, to the east of Papua New Guinea and north-west of Vanuatu. It has a land area of , and a population of approx. 700,000. Its capita ...
.
Commercial exploitation
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.
Taxonomy
There are many synonyms for the family Acrochordidae including:
[McDiarmid RW, Campbell JA, Touré T. 1999. Snake Species of the World: A Taxonomic and Geographic Reference, vol. 1. Herpetologists' League. 511 pp. (series). (volume).] Acrochordina
Bonaparte, 1831, Acrochordidae
Bonaparte, 1840, Acrochorniens
A.M.C. Duméril, 1853, Acrochordidae
Jan, 1863, Acrochordinae
Boulenger, 1893, Acrochordoidae
McDowell, 1975, Acrochordini
Dowling & Duellman, 1978
There are also many synonyms for the genera Acrochordus including:
''Acrochordus''
Hornstedt, 1787, ''Chersydrus''
Cuvier, 1817, ''Chersidrus''
Oken, 1817, ''Acrochordus''
Gray, 1825, ''Chersydreas''
Gray, 1825, ''Chershydrus''
Bonaparte, 1831, ''Verrucator''
Schlegel, 1837, ''Chersydraeas''
Gray, 1849, ''Potamophis''
Schmidt, 1852, ''Chersydraeus''
Duméril, Bibron & Duméril, 1854, ''Acrochordus''
Boulenger, 1893
Species
References
External links
*
Acrochordus.com Accessed 3 November 2008.
at ''Life is Short but Snakes are Long''
{{Authority control
Acrochordidae
Snake genera