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Reptiles Database
Order Squamata
Infraorder Caenophidia (Colubroidea)
Family Acrochordidae (Wart Snakes)
Only 3 species belong to this family.
Wart Snake (Acrochordus granulatus)
© Ashok Captain
Appearance: Heavy-bodied snakes with skin lying loose in folds. Scales small, granular and non-overlapping, giving a rugose texture with the interstitial skin forming bristle-tipped tubercles. Adapted to aquatic lifestyle by dorsally-shifted eyes, valvular nostrils, and a flap for closing the lingual opening of the mouth. Acrochordus granulatus has a laterally compressed tail and lingual salt glands.
Size: 60-180 cm snout-vent length.
Distribution: Indo-Australian region
Habitat: Aquatic; estuarine-marine (Acrochordus granulatus) or living in freshwater (A. arafurae, A. javanicus).
Food: mainly fish.
Reproduction: Ovoviviparous with litters ranging from 2 to 32 neonates (A. javanicus). Clutch size is correlated with body size. Acrochordus granulatus: 4-8 neonates.
Behavior: Slowly moving and swimming animals which often remain under water for a considerable time. On land they can move only clumsily
Taxonomy: The systematic status of the Acrochordidae has been unclear for many years: some authors placed them within the colubrids (as a subfamily), others such as UNDERWOOD (1967) placed them within the Henophidia. More recent authors placed the acrochordids within the caenophidian radiation (GROOMBRIDGE 1984, RIEPPEL 1988).
List of genera:
References:
Groombridge, B. C. 1984
The facial carotid artery in snakes (Reptilia, Serpentes)
Variations and possible cladistic significance.
Amphibia-Reptilia 5: 145-155
Lillywhite, Harvey B. 1991
The biology and conservation of acrochordid snakes.
Hamadryad 16: 1-9
Murphy, J.C. 1988
An overview of the Asian file snakes, family
Acrochordidae.
Chicago Herpet. Soc., Bull. 23(1): 1-4.
Rieppel, Olivier 1988
A review of the origin of snakes.
Evolutionary Biology 22: 37-130
Shine, Richard;Harlow, Peter;Keogh, J. Scott;Boeadi 1995
Biology and commercial utilization of acrochordid snakes, with
special reference to Karung (Acrochordus javanicus).
Journal of Herpetology 29 (3): 352-360
Underwood, Gath 1967
A comprehensive approach to the classification of higher
snakes.
Herpetologica 23 (2): 161-168
Online References:
- Bibliography of the Acrochordidae
- File Snakes (Field Museum)