''Trimerodytes percarinatus'', commonly known as the eastern water snake, olive keelback, olive annulate keelback or Chinese keelback water snake, is a

species In biology, a species is the basic unit of classification and a taxonomic rank of an organism, as well as a unit of biodiversity. A species is often defined as the largest group of organisms in which any two individuals of the appropriate s ...

of snake in the

subfamily In biological classification, a subfamily (Latin: ', plural ') is an auxiliary (intermediate) taxonomic rank, next below family but more inclusive than genus. Standard nomenclature rules end subfamily botanical names with "-oideae", and zoologi ...

Natricinae The Natricinae are a subfamily of colubroid snakes, sometimes referred to as a family (Natricidae). The subfamily comprises 37 genera. Members include many very common snake species, such as the European grass snakes, and the North American wa ...

Taxonomy

The type locality for ''T. percarinatus'' is Guadun (formerly spelled as Kuatun),

Wuyishan City Wuyishan City () is a county-level city in the municipal region of Nanping, in the northwest of Fujian, People's Republic of China, which borders Jiangxi to the northwest. It corresponds to the former Chong'an County. Natural and cultural herita ...

(former Chongan County) in NW

Fujian Fujian (; alternately romanized as Fukien or Hokkien) is a province on the southeastern coast of China. Fujian is bordered by Zhejiang to the north, Jiangxi to the west, Guangdong to the south, and the Taiwan Strait to the east. Its capi ...

, China.

Subspecies

The

subspecies In biological classification, subspecies is a rank below species, used for populations that live in different areas and vary in size, shape, or other physical characteristics (morphology), but that can successfully interbreed. Not all species ...

''Trimerodytes percarinatus suriki'' 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 Taiwan where it occurs in the whole country.

Description

''T. percarinatus'' is a defensive snake that bites readily when caught, but it is not venomous. It is a medium-sized snake, typically attaining a total length (including tail) of , but may grow up to . An adult female usually lays 4 to 13 eggs, but may lay as many as 25 eggs.

Distribution and habitat

''T. percarinatus'' is found in NE India (Changlang District, Arunachal Pradesh), Myanmar (= Burma), Thailand, Laos, Vietnam, S China (Hainan, Zhejiang, Jiangxi, Fujian, Guangdong, Guangxi, Guizhou, Sichuan, Hubei), Hong Kong, and Taiwan. It is an aquatic species associated with hilly areas.

Diet

''T. percarinatus''

preys Predation is a biological interaction where one organism, the predator, kills and eats another organism, its prey. It is one of a family of common feeding behaviours that includes parasitism and micropredation (which usually do not kill th ...

on shrimps, frogs (including tadpoles), and fish.

Taxonomy

Subspecies

Description

Distribution and habitat

Diet

References

Further reading