''Rhabdops aquaticus'', also known as the water rhabdops and aquatic rhabdops, is a nonvenomous aquatic species of

snake Snakes are elongated, Limbless vertebrate, limbless, carnivore, carnivorous reptiles of the suborder Serpentes . Like all other Squamata, squamates, snakes are ectothermic, amniote vertebrates covered in overlapping Scale (zoology), scales. Ma ...

. It is

endemic Endemism is the state of a species being found 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 found elsew ...

to the Western Ghats in southern Maharashtra, northern Karnataka, and Goa states,

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 ...

. It has an off-white belly and black spots on its olive brown skin; juveniles are olive green, with yellow undersides.

References

aquaticus Snakes of Asia Reptiles of India Endemic fauna of the Western Ghats Reptiles described in 2017 Taxa named by Veerappan Deepak Taxa named by Varad B. Giri Taxa named by David J. Gower {{snake-stub