Erpeton
Encyclopedia
Erpeton is a genus
of water snake of the family Colubridae, which includes a single known species, the tentacled snake, Erpeton tentaculatum
, which is native to South-East Asia. They are aquatic and extremely fast in catching their prey, small fish. The snakes accomplish the capture of their prey by cheating on a C-start escape reflex
of the fish: after approaching a fish the snake bends, and makes a quick movement with a measured segment of its body, startling the fish exactly in the direction of snake's head.
Genus
In biology, a genus is a low-level taxonomic rank used in the biological classification of living and fossil organisms, which is an example of definition by genus and differentia...
of water snake of the family Colubridae, which includes a single known species, the tentacled snake, Erpeton tentaculatum
Erpeton Tentaculatum
The tentacled snake , is a rear-fanged aquatic snake native to South-East Asia. It is the only species of its genus, Erpeton, and the two tentacles on its snout are a unique feature among snakes...
, which is native to South-East Asia. They are aquatic and extremely fast in catching their prey, small fish. The snakes accomplish the capture of their prey by cheating on a C-start escape reflex
Escape reflex
Escape reflex, a kind of escape response, is a simple reflectory reaction in response to stimuli indicative of danger, that initiates an escape motion of an animal....
of the fish: after approaching a fish the snake bends, and makes a quick movement with a measured segment of its body, startling the fish exactly in the direction of snake's head.
External links
- http://www.torontozoo.com/Animals/details.asp?AnimalId=580
- http://whozoo.org/Intro2002/StephReder/SJR_Tentacledsnake.htm
- http://scientificamerican.com/apr2011/catania