Enhydris snakes belong to the family Homalopsidae, a monophyletic group composed of semi-aquatic and mainly nocturnal snakes. Around three quarters of Enhydris species are associated with freshwater and a quarter associated with saltwater. They are usually associated with mud substrates. Enhydris are distributed from Pakistan and the Indian subcontinent across Southeast Asia to northern Australia. The genus Enhydris as originally delineated is now recognized to be polyphyletic (Voris et al. 2002; Karns et al. 2010 and references therein). As more narrowly defined by Murphy & Voris (2014), Enhydris includes just six species (E. chanardi, E. enhydris, E. innominata, E. jagorii, E. longicauda, and E. subtaeniata), which are collectively found from eastern India and Sri Lanka eastward to the Indochinese Peninsula.
Based on new data on their phylogenetic relationships, many species formerly included in Enhydris have been split into different genera (see Murphy and Voris 2014 for technical details and references). For example, for the following former Enyhdris species known from Myanmar:
Blanford's Mud Snake: Enhydris maculosa is now Gyiophis maculosa
Voris' Mud Snake: Enhydris vorisi is now Gyiophis vorisi
Boie's Mud Snake: Enhydris plumbea is now Hypsiscopus plumbea
Siebold's Mud Snake: Enhydris sieboldi is now Ferenia sieboldi
Enhydris is a genus of slightly venomous, rear-fanged, snakes in the family Homalopsidae. The genus is endemic to the tropical area of Indo-Australian region.[2]
The following 6 species are recognized:[1][3][4]
Several additional species have traditionally been placed here, but are now often in genera such as Subsessor and Pseudoferania. Another species, Enhydris smithi (Boulenger, 1914), was considered to be a valid species by herpetologists M.A. Smith 1943, Das 2010, and Wallach et al. 2014, but was considered to be a synonym of Enhydris jagorii by Cox et al. 1998, and Murphy & Voris 2014.[5]
Nota bene: In the list above, a binomial authority in parentheses indicates that the species was originally described in a genus other than Enhydris.
The specific names, jagorii and smithi, are in honor of German naturalist Fedor Jagor and British herpetologist Malcolm Arthur Smith, respectively.[6]
The snake called "海豹蛇" ("sea-leopard snake", Enhydris bocourti, but now often moved to monotypic genus Subsessor), accompanied by a list of options for serving it, occupies a place of honor among the creatures displayed outside of a Guangzhou restaurant Enhydris is a genus of slightly venomous, rear-fanged, snakes in the family Homalopsidae. The genus is endemic to the tropical area of Indo-Australian region.
