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Dog-faced Water Snake

Keelbacks & Water Snakes

Photo: Teja Yantrapalli (iNaturalist) · CC BY 4.0 (May be cropped or resized)

Cerberus rynchops

Basic stats

Diet

Fish (gobies, catfish, mullet, eels), crustaceans and frogs

Habitat

Mangroves, mudflats, streams, ponds and tidal pools

Range

Coastal waters of South and Southeast Asia

Litter size

8–30 live young

The Asian bockadam, or dog-faced water snake, is a mildly venomous, rear-fanged snake of the family Homalopsidae, native to coastal waters of South and Southeast Asia. It is commonly found in mangroves, mudflats, streams, ponds and tidal pools, and has even been found burrowing into mud. It is aquatic and nocturnal and feeds mainly on fish, including gobies, catfish, mullet and eels, as well as crustaceans and frogs. The species was re-delimited in 2012, with populations east and south of the west coast of Thailand allocated to other species (Wikipedia, general species account).

It gives birth to 8 to 30 live young, in water or on land. In captivity it moves in a sidewinding fashion on land, and a BBC series filmed it using this technique to jump across a mudflat in Singapore. The tail is prehensile, and females often have a bright yellow to orange belly (Wikipedia, general species account).

Quick answers

What does the Dog-faced Water Snake eat?
Fish (gobies, catfish, mullet, eels), crustaceans and frogs
What habitat does the Dog-faced Water Snake live in?
Mangroves, mudflats, streams, ponds and tidal pools
Where is the Dog-faced Water Snake found?
Coastal waters of South and Southeast Asia
What is the litter size of the Dog-faced Water Snake?
8–30 live young
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