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
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