Subsessor

Subsessor is a genus of snake in the family Homalopsidae. The genus is monotypic, containing the sole species Subsessor bocourti.[3] The species is commonly known as Bocourt's water snake and has traditionally been placed in the genus Enhydris.[1]

Subsessor
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Reptilia
Order: Squamata
Suborder: Serpentes
Family: Homalopsidae
Genus: Subsessor
J.C. Murphy & Voris, 2014
Species:
S. bocourti
Binomial name
Subsessor bocourti
(Jan, 1865)
Synonyms[2]
  • Hypsirhina bocourti
    Jan, 1865
  • Enhydris bocourti
    — M.A. Smith, 1943
  • Subsessor bocourti
    — J.C. Murphy & Voris, 2014
  • Enhydris bocourti
    — Chan-ard et al., 2015

Etymology

Both the specific name, bocourti, and the common name, Bocourt's water snake, refer to French zoologist Marie Firmin Bocourt.[2][4]

Geographic range and habitat

S. bocourti is found in a wide range of stagnant fresh water habitats in Mainland Southeast Asia.[1][2] Records from China are questionable.[2]

Description

A robust snake, S. bocourti can surpass 1 m (3.3 ft) in length. They are live bearing snakes giving birth to, on average 3-8 fully formed neonate snakes.

Diet

S. bocourti feeds on frogs, fish, and crustaceans.[2]

Commercial use

Bocourt's water snake is widely caught for its skin and sometimes also eaten.[1]

References
  1. Murphy J (2010). "Subsessor bocourti ". IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. 2010. Retrieved 29 December 2016.
  2. Subsessor bocourti at the Reptarium.cz Reptile Database. Accessed 29 December 2016.
  3. Subsessor at the Reptarium.cz Reptile Database. Accessed 29 December 2016.
  4. Beolens, Bo; Watkins, Michael; Grayson, Michael (2011). The Eponym Dictionary of Reptiles. Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press. xiii + 296 pp. ISBN 978-1-4214-0135-5. (Enhydris bocourti, p. 28).

Further reading
  • Boulenger GA (1896). Catalogue of the Snakes in the British Museum (Natural History). Volume III. Containing the Colubridæ (Opisthoglyphæ and Proteroglyphæ) ... London: Trustees of the British Museum (Natural History). (Taylor and Francis, printers). xiv + 727 pp. + Plates I-XXV. ("Hypsirhina bocourtii [sic]", pp. 10–11).
  • Chan-ard, [Mr.] Tanya; Parr, John W. K.; Nabhitabhata, Jarujin (2015). A Field Guide to the Reptiles of Thailand. New York: Oxford University Press. 352 pp. (Enhydris bocourti, p. 239).
  • Jan G (1865). "Enumerazione sistematica degli ofidi appartenenti al gruppo Potamophilidae ". Archivio per la Zoologia, l'Anatomia e la Fisiologia 3 (2): 201-265. (Hypsirhina bocourti, new species, pp. 258–260). (in Italian).
  • Murphy, John C.; Voris, Harold K. (2014). "A Checklist and Key to the Homalopsid Snakes (Reptilia, Squamata, Serpentes), with the Description of New Genera". Fieldiana: Life and Earth Sciences (8): 1-43. (Subsessor, new genus, p. 33; S. bocourti, new combination, p. 34, Figure 50).
  • Smith MA (1943). The Fauna of British India, Ceylon and Burma, Including the Whole of the Indo-Chinese Sub-region. Reptilia and Amphibia. Vol. III.—Serpentes. London: Secretary of State for India. (Taylor and Francis, printers). xii + 583 pp. (Enhydris bocourti, new combination, pp. 388–389).


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