Checkered Keelback
The latest news regarding the Checkered Keelback (also known as the Asian water snake) is the first-ever documentation of an albino specimen in the state of Assam, India.
About Checkered Keelback (Fowlea piscator):
- Commonly known as the Asiatic water snake, it belongs to the family Natricinae.​
- Medium-sized snake that can grow up to around 1 to 1.75 meters in length.​
- Has a slender, elongated, yet stout body covered with keeled scales arranged in typically 19 rows.​
- Body color is highly variable: olive-brown, olive-green, yellow, or red, commonly with a black checkered pattern or large black blotches; underside is usually off-white or light yellow.​
- Characteristic markings include two oblique black streaks—one below and one behind the eye—and sometimes an inverted black "V" or "W" mark on the neck.​
- Head is pointed and slightly broader than the neck with 9 upper labials; the 4th and 5th labials usually enter the eye.​
- Lives primarily in freshwater habitats such as ponds, lakes, marshes, rice fields, irrigation tanks, and sometimes urban water bodies.​
- Geographic distribution covers South Asia including India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, parts of Southeast Asia, southern China, and Taiwan.​
- Diet consists of fish, frogs, small reptiles, rodents, birds, and smaller snakes.​
- Behaviorally, it is active by day and sometimes by night, showing voracious feeding habits and aggressive biting when threatened; though venomous with rear fangs (opisthoglyphous), it poses little danger to humans.​
- Juveniles have a yellow neck mark that fades with age and are active predators soon after hatching, feeding on frogs, tadpoles, small fish, and insects.​
- Known for its adaptability to human environments, it is found in rural and urban water bodies, even sewers and backyards.​
- No major conservation threats have been noted for this species.​
- IUCN Ref List: Least Concern
