Close-up of a new snake species found only in Vietnam

A new species of snake has just been recognized by scientists, found only on a small island in Khanh Hoa province, Vietnam.

Vietnamese and Russian scientists, including master Nguyen Van Tan (Duy Tan University, Da Nang), Nikolay A. Poyarkov and Andrey M. Bragin (both from Moscow State University, Russia) discovered and described a new species of snake, found on Hon Tre, a small island in Khanh Hoa province.

Scientists have named the new snake species Colubroelaps adleri, the Vietnamese name is "Adler's water snake" . This name honors the contributions of Professor, Dr. Kraig Adler of Cornell University (USA) for his dedication and contributions to the study of amphibians and reptiles in the world in general and in Asia in particular, including Vietnam.

Close-up of the head, body, abdomen and tail of the Adler's water snake (Photo: Herpetozoa).

The Adler's water snake is a species of the genus Colubroelaps, family Colubroelaps . Previously, Colubroelaps was a monotypic genus, with a single representative, Colubroelaps nguyenvansangi (Vietnamese name is Nguyen Van Sang's water snake) . The name of this snake species was given to honor Dr. Nguyen Van Sang (Institute of Ecology and Biological Resources) for his contributions to the study of reptiles and amphibians in Vietnam.

The newly discovered Adler water snake has different characteristics compared to the Nguyen Van Sang water snake, which are smaller size, short tail, different number of dorsal, ventral, and caudal scales on the body.

The Adler's water snake has a light brown dorsal surface, with a narrow, broken black stripe along the back, dark grey flanks, a uniform opaque white ventral surface, a black head with light brown snout, nasal, prefrontal, preocular, and cheek scales and dark brown spots.

The Adler's water snake is a member of the water snake family and is non-venomous .

Compare the differences between the Adler's water snake (above) and the Nguyen Van Sang snake (below) (Photo: Herpetozoa).

Scientists say the Adler water snake is an endemic species, living only on Hon Tre Island in Khanh Hoa province, at an altitude of 30m above sea level.

Because the Adler's water snake is very rare, with only one specimen collected for research and being threatened by the development of the tourism industry on Hon Tre Island, scientists have proposed to classify this snake species as "Endangered" according to the criteria of the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN).

Information about the Adler's Water Snake is published in Herpetozoa, a scientific journal specializing in reptiles and amphibians. This journal focuses on publishing research, articles and reports related to the biology, systematics, ecology, conservation status of reptiles and amphibians worldwide.