
''Enhydris'' is a
genus
Genus (; : genera ) is a taxonomic rank above species and below family (taxonomy), family as used in the biological classification of extant taxon, living and fossil organisms as well as Virus classification#ICTV classification, viruses. In bino ...
of slightly
venom
Venom or zootoxin is a type of toxin produced by an animal that is actively delivered through a wound by means of a bite, sting, or similar action. The toxin is delivered through a specially evolved ''venom apparatus'', such as fangs or a sti ...
ous,
rear-fanged snake
Snakes are elongated limbless reptiles of the suborder Serpentes (). Cladistically squamates, snakes are ectothermic, amniote vertebrates covered in overlapping scales much like other members of the group. Many species of snakes have s ...
s in the
family
Family (from ) is a Social group, group of people related either by consanguinity (by recognized birth) or Affinity (law), affinity (by marriage or other relationship). It forms the basis for social order. Ideally, families offer predictabili ...
Homalopsidae
The Homalopsidae are a family of snakes which contains about 30 genus, genera and more than 50 species. They are commonly known as Indo-Australian water snakes, mudsnakes, or bockadams. They are also known as (lit. "water snake") in Indonesian. ...
. The genus is
endemic
Endemism is the state of a species being found only in a single defined geographic location, such as an island, state, nation, country or other defined zone; organisms that are indigenous to a place are not endemic to it if they are also foun ...
to the tropical area of Indo-Australian region.
Species
The following 6
species
A species () is often defined as the largest group of organisms in which any two individuals of the appropriate sexes or mating types can produce fertile offspring, typically by sexual reproduction. It is the basic unit of Taxonomy (biology), ...
are recognized:
* ''
Enhydris chanardi''
Murphy & Voris, 2005
* ''
Enhydris enhydris''
( Schneider, 1799)
* ''
Enhydris innominata''
( Morice, 1875)
* ''
Enhydris jagorii''
( W. Peters, 1863)
* ''
Enhydris longicauda''
( Bourret, 1934)
* ''
Enhydris subtaeniata''
(Bourret, 1934)
Several additional species have traditionally been placed here, but are now often in genera such as ''
Subsessor'' and ''
Pseudoferania''. Another species, ''
Enhydris smithi'' , was considered to be a valid species by
herpetologists M.A. Smith 1943,
Das 2010, and
Wallach et al. 2014, but was considered to be a synonym of ''Enhydris jagorii'' by Cox et al. 1998, and Murphy & Voris 2014.
''
Nota bene
( ; plural: ) is the Latin language, Latin phrase meaning ''note well''.
In manuscripts, ''nota bene'' is abbreviated in upper-case as NB and N.B., and in lower-case as n.b. and nb; the editorial usages of ''nota bene'' and ''notate bene'' fi ...
'': In the list above, a
binomial authority in parentheses indicates that the species was originally described in a genus other than ''Enhydris''.
Etymology
The
specific names, ''jagorii'' and ''smithi'', are in honor of German naturalist
Fedor Jagor and British herpetologist
Malcolm Arthur Smith, respectively.
[ Beolens, Bo; Watkins, Michael; Grayson, Michael (2011). ''The Eponym Dictionary of Reptiles''. Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press. xiii + 296 pp. . (''Enhydris jagorii'', p. 132; ''Enhydris smithi'', p. 247).]
References
Further reading
*
Sonnini CS,
Latreille PA (1802). ''Histoire Naturelle des Reptiles, avec figures dessinées d'après nature. Tome IV. Seconde Partie. Serpens.'' Paris: Deterville. (Crapelet, printer). 410 pp. (''Enhydris'', new genus, pp. 200–201). (in French).
Colubrids
Snake genera
Taxa named by Pierre André Latreille
Taxa named by Charles-Nicolas-Sigisbert Sonnini de Manoncourt
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