Brief SummaryRead full entry Homalopsid snakes are collectively
called mud snakes or Oriental-Australasian rear-fanged water
snakes. The largest species reach body lengths of 1.3 meters,
and some species are dwarfs, rarely exceeding 400 mm.
Homalopsids range from Pakistan's Indus River Delta eastward
across tropical Asia to the Philippines, southward into
Indonesia, Australia and New Guinea, and a single species is
known from Micronesia. While most have semi-aquatic or aquatic
life styles, a few are more terrestrial. The semi-aquatic and
aquatic species tend to feed on crustaceans and fish, more
terrestrial species feed on frogs and worms. They seem to form
two major groups, the basal group tends to be terrestrial and
fangless, the more aquatic group tends to have rear-fangs on the
maxillary bone and venom glands. All are viviparous, and have
nasal valves. Some of the aquatic species are restricted to
freshwater, while others exploit coastal environments with a
tolerance to salinity. The family Homalopsidae w