About Helicops angulatus (Linnaeus, 1758)
This species, commonly called the brown-banded water snake, has a scientific name of Helicops angulatus (Linnaeus, 1758). Most individuals reach a maximum total length including tail of 78 cm (31 inches), though one female measuring 113 cm has been reported from Bahia state, Brazil. Dorsally, its base color is olive or gray-brown, marked with dark brown crossbands edged in black. These crossbands narrow toward the sides and are usually continuous with the black crossbands on the belly. A large dark rhomboid marking is present on the nape of the neck. Ventrally, preserved specimens stored in alcohol appear yellowish, marked with either black crossbands or black spots. Its dorsal scales are strongly keeled, including on the occiput and nape, and are arranged in 19 rows. It has between 102 and 130 ventral scales, a divided anal scale, and 61 to 94 paired, keeled subcaudal scales. Helicops angulatus inhabits both fresh and brackish water environments. Its diet includes fish such as freshwater eels, and it may also eat frogs including rusty tree frogs, map tree frogs, Manaus slender-legged tree frogs, Scinax ruber, Adenomera hylaedactyla, Rhinella margaritifera, and cane toads, along with frog eggs and tadpoles. It may also consume lizards including Alopoglossus species and common stream lizards, earthworms from the family Glossoscolecidae, and carrion. This species is reported to be facultatively viviparous.
