Cat-eyed Fishing Snake

About the Cat-eyed Fishing Snake

Gerarda prevostiana, commonly known as the cat-eyed water snake, Gerard's water snake, and the glossy marsh snake, is a species of snake in the family Homalopsidae. The species is endemic to Asia. It is the only species in the genus Gerarda.

The generic name, Gerarda, is in honor of someone named "Gerard". Unfortunately, John Edward Gray, who named the genus in 1849, did not specify whom he was honoring. Two possibilities are Adam Gerard or Rev. Gerard R. Smith, both of whom sent specimens of reptiles to Gray at the British Museum.

The specific name, prevostiana, is in honor of French naturalist and illustrator Florent Prévost. G. prevostiana feeds almost exclusively on crabs, which it tears into bite-sized pieces by pulling them through its coils, in contrast to most other snakes which swallow their prey whole. G. prevostiana has the following scalation. The frontal is a little longer than broad, shorter than its distance from the end of the snout, or than the parietals. The loreal is slightly longer than deep, a little smaller than the nasal. There is one preocular, and there are two postoculars. The temporals are arranged 1+2. There are... Wikipedia →