Burmese Vine Snake
Color is Life: Pencil thin, delicate; green and brown scales conceal these snakes in the bushes along the banks of tidal rivers in brackish mangrove swamps.
TAXONOMY
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Reptilia
Order: Squamata
Suborder: Serpentes
Family: Colubridae (Colubrids)
Genus/species: Ahaetulla fronticincta
GENERAL CHARACTERISTICS: Pencil thin, delicate; green and brown scales. Bulbous wide-set raised eyes. Length to 60 cm (23.5 inches).
DISTRIBUTION/HABITAT: Myanmar (formerly Burma) Mostly arboreal. They are abundant on bushes along the banks of tidal rivers in brackish mangrove swamps.
DIET IN THE WILD: Diurnal hunter of small fish: gobies, and rice fish. Prey immobilized with mild venom
from enlarged rear fangs. Visually-oriented hunter.
ACADEMY DIET: An arboreally-adapted species that consumes fishes is an oddity. In the Steinhart, feed on guppies and goldfish.
REPRODUCTION: Fertilization internal. Viviparous. Newborn snakes are a subtle shade of brown. Polymorphic: some adults turn green, brown, or more rarely two-toned.
The Steinhart Aquarium was the first to display this species. Academy field research on this little-known species continues. Steinhart’s vine shakes have bred and reproduced in captivity, a first for this species.
CONSERVATION: IUCN Least Concern (LC)
This snake is a mangrove specialist feeding only on fish. It can occur in somewhat degraded habitat, however as it requires a large enough area of mangrove habitat to support fish populations, it will not persist in sites where the mangrove zone is only a few trees thick.
Water Planet, Feeding Cluster
References
California Academy of Sciences Water is Life Exhibit
video.search.yahoo.com/search/video;_ylt=AwrTHRPo3UBW7XsA...
IUCN Red List www.iucnredlist.org/details/192058/0
Encyclopedia of Life eol.org/pages/1057253/details
flickr www.flickr.com/photos/cas_docents/sets/72157608449603666/
Wordpress Shortlink wp.me/p1DZ4b-OM
3-1-13, 10-19-15
Burmese Vine Snake
Color is Life: Pencil thin, delicate; green and brown scales conceal these snakes in the bushes along the banks of tidal rivers in brackish mangrove swamps.
TAXONOMY
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Reptilia
Order: Squamata
Suborder: Serpentes
Family: Colubridae (Colubrids)
Genus/species: Ahaetulla fronticincta
GENERAL CHARACTERISTICS: Pencil thin, delicate; green and brown scales. Bulbous wide-set raised eyes. Length to 60 cm (23.5 inches).
DISTRIBUTION/HABITAT: Myanmar (formerly Burma) Mostly arboreal. They are abundant on bushes along the banks of tidal rivers in brackish mangrove swamps.
DIET IN THE WILD: Diurnal hunter of small fish: gobies, and rice fish. Prey immobilized with mild venom
from enlarged rear fangs. Visually-oriented hunter.
ACADEMY DIET: An arboreally-adapted species that consumes fishes is an oddity. In the Steinhart, feed on guppies and goldfish.
REPRODUCTION: Fertilization internal. Viviparous. Newborn snakes are a subtle shade of brown. Polymorphic: some adults turn green, brown, or more rarely two-toned.
The Steinhart Aquarium was the first to display this species. Academy field research on this little-known species continues. Steinhart’s vine shakes have bred and reproduced in captivity, a first for this species.
CONSERVATION: IUCN Least Concern (LC)
This snake is a mangrove specialist feeding only on fish. It can occur in somewhat degraded habitat, however as it requires a large enough area of mangrove habitat to support fish populations, it will not persist in sites where the mangrove zone is only a few trees thick.
Water Planet, Feeding Cluster
References
California Academy of Sciences Water is Life Exhibit
video.search.yahoo.com/search/video;_ylt=AwrTHRPo3UBW7XsA...
IUCN Red List www.iucnredlist.org/details/192058/0
Encyclopedia of Life eol.org/pages/1057253/details
flickr www.flickr.com/photos/cas_docents/sets/72157608449603666/
Wordpress Shortlink wp.me/p1DZ4b-OM
3-1-13, 10-19-15