Mud adder
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Reptilia
Order: Squamata
Suborder: Serpentes
Family: Elapidae
Genus: Denisonia
Species:
D. devisi
Binomial name
Denisonia devisi
(Waite & Longman, 1920)
Distribution of D. devisi
Synonyms[2]
  • Hoplocephalus ornatus
    De Vis, 1884
    (non Denisonia ornata Krefft, 1869)
  • Denisonia maculata var. devisi
    Waite & Longman, 1920
    (nomen novum pro Hoplocephalus ornatus)
  • Denisonia devisi
    — Cogger, 1983

The mud adder (Denisonia devisi), also known commonly as Devis's banded snake, is a species of venomous snake in the family Elapidae. The species is endemic to certain regions of eastern Australia, including South West Queensland, northern New South Wales, north-west Victoria, and (more recently) South Australia. Its scientific and common names refer to Charles Walter De Vis.

Taxonomy

This species was first described by Charles Walter De Vis, the first director of the Queensland Museum, from whom both the scientific name and one of its common names are derived.[3][4] In 1884 he described it as Hoplocephalus ornatus.

In 1920 Waite and Longman decided to place it in the genus Denisonia. However, since Krefft in 1869 had named a different species Denisonia ornata, that name could not be used. Waite and Longman therefore created the new name Denisonia maculata var. devisi. Subsequently, Cogger in 1983 raised it to full species status as Denisonia devisi.

Description

Denisonia devisi is short, thick, and slightly flat. The eyes are set at the top of the head and have a conspicuous iris. The dorsal surface of the body is yellowish-brown to olive-green in colour, broken by irregular, ragged-edged, narrow, dark bands running across the body. De Vis' banded snake is sometimes confused with death adders, as both have thick, banded bodies. The main difference is that the De Vis' banded snake's tail does not taper abruptly, and its head is not broad and triangular.

Distribution and habitat

The De Vis' banded snake was thought to be confined to alluvial flats in Queensland and New South Wales.[5]

However, when mammal expert Peter Menkhorst reported a death adder in north-west Victoria, an expedition was carried out in November 2005 to survey the Wallpolla Islands. Instead of finding a death adder, the survey identified a De Vis' banded snake for the first time in Victoria.[6] Further confirmation of the species' new habitat came with a report on the results of raising water levels for environmental purposes at several sites along the Murray River at the Victoria - New South Wales border, making special note of the snake.[7] The snake was found in Wallpolla Island Park, a 9,800-hectare (24,000-acre) area consisting of floodplain vegetation in the extreme North West, on the Victoria-New South Wales border.[8] It was a designated “Icon Site”, an area of high ecological value within the Murray-Darling basin.[9] The new addition to Victorian snakes was probably carried south during a period of flooding in the Darling River. The usually dry habitat had become more suitable over the years as water and biodiversity increased due to environmental water.[5][7]

In late 2021, sightings of several of the snakes at Chowilla Game Reserve, near Renmark, in the Riverland region of South Australia were confirmed by the South Australian Museum to be the first seen in South Australia.[10][11]

Behaviour

The mud adder inhabits low-lying areas, particularly near sites subjected to seasonal flooding. It feeds mainly on frogs, and ambushes their prey. They are nocturnal in warm weather, and inhabit soil cracks.[11]

The mud adder gives birth to a fully formed young with an average total length (including tail) of 11 cm (4.3 in). A litter consists of three to 11, five on average, baby snakes.[12]

Conservation status

The mud adder's conservation status is that of least concern on the IUCN Red List[1] and under Queensland's Nature Conservation Act 1992.[4]

References

  1. 1 2 Vanderduys, E.; Wilson, S.; Hobson, R.; Sanderson, C. (2018). "Denisonia devisi ". IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. 2018: e.T102707635A102707763. doi:10.2305/IUCN.UK.2018-1.RLTS.T102707635A102707763.en. Retrieved 20 November 2021.
  2. ↑ Denisonia devisi at the Reptarium.cz Reptile Database
  3. ↑ Beolens, Bo; Watkins, Michael; Grayson, Michael (2011). The Eponym Dictionary of Reptiles. Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press. xiii + 296 pp. ISBN 978-1-4214-0135-5. (Denisonia devisi, p. 71).
  4. 1 2 "Species profile – Denisonia devisi (De Vis' banded snake)". Queensland Government. 23 October 2019. Retrieved 21 February 2021.
  5. 1 2 Just, Karl (June 2010). "Water Brings Life to a Special Snake". Parkwatch. 241: 24.
  6. ↑ Clemann, Nick; Robertson, Peter; Gibbons, Dale; Heard, Geoffrey (2007). "An Addition to the Snake Fauna of Victoria: De Vis' Banded Snake Denisonia devisi (Serpentes: Elapidae)". The Victorian Naturalist. 124 (1): 33–38.
  7. 1 2 Status Report February 2006 Section D (PDF). Murray-Darling Basin Commission. 1 February 2006. Archived from the original (PDF) on 6 April 2011. Retrieved 11 March 2012. {{cite book}}: |work= ignored (help)
  8. ↑ "Wallpolla Island River Reserve". Parks Victoria. State Government Victoria. 22 June 2011. Retrieved 11 March 2012.
  9. ↑ "Icon Sites". The Living Murray. Murray-Darling Basin Commission. 28 May 2007. Archived from the original on 30 August 2011. Retrieved 11 March 2012.
  10. ↑ Willis, Belinda (10 October 2022). "SA's venomous snake list just got longer". InDaily. Retrieved 12 October 2022.
  11. 1 2 Scott, Shawn; Jones, Harrison T.; Margetts, Connor; Regan, Scott G.; Kirby, Sean (31 August 2022). "De Vis' Banded Snake, Denisonia devisi (Squamata: Elapidae): an Addition to the Elapid Fauna of South Australia with Notes on Its Ecology and Conservation" (PDF). Herpetological Conservation and Biology. 17 (2): 362–369.
  12. ↑ Cogger, Harold (1992). Reptiles and Amphibians of Australia. Ithaca, New York: Cornell University Press. ISBN 0801427398.

Further reading

  • Cogger HG (2014). Reptiles and Amphibians of Australia, Seventh Edition. Clayton, Victoria, Australia: CSIRO Publishing. xxx + 1,033 pp. ISBN 978-0643100350.
  • Waite ER, Longman AH (1920). "Descriptions of Little-known Australian Snakes". Records of the South Australian Museum 1 (3): 173–180. (Denisonia maculata var. devisi, new name, pp. 178–179).
  • Wilson S, Swan G (2013). A Complete Guide to Reptiles of Australia, Fourth Edition. Sydney: New Holland Publishers. 522 pp. ISBN 978-1921517280.
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