Pseudoeryx plicatilis
{{Short description|Species of snake}}
{{Speciesbox
| image = Pseudoeryx plicatilis 91833828.jpg
| image_caption = Adult
| image2 = Pseudoeryx plicatilis 210419223.jpg
| image2_caption = Juvenile
| status = LC
| status_system = IUCN3.1
| genus = Pseudoeryx
| species = plicatilis
| authority = (Linnaeus, 1758)
| synonyms =
{{collapsible list|bullets = true
|Coluber plicatilis
Linnaeus, 1758: 217
|Pseudoeryx plicatilis plicatilis
Linnaeus, 1758
|Cerastes plicatilis
Laurenti, 1768: 81
|Elaps plicatilis
Schneider, 1801: 294
|Natrix plicatilis
Merrem, 1820: 99
|Pseudoeryx daudinii
Fitzinger, 1826: 55
|Pseudoeryx plicatilis
Fitzinger, 1826: 55
|Homalopsis plicatilis
Boie, 1827: 523
|Helicops plicatilis
Wagler, 1830: 171
|Pseuderyx plicatilis
Fitzinger, 1843: 25 (unjustified emendation)
|Dimades plicatilis
Gray, 1849: 76
|Calopisma plicatile
Duméril, Bibron & Duméril, 1854: 344
|Pseudoeryx plicatilis mimeticus
Cope, 1885
|Pseudoeryx mimeticus
Cope, 1885: 94
|Pseudoeryx plicatilis var. anomalepis
Bocourt, 1895: 804
|Hydrops lehmanni
Dunn, 1944: 71 (fide Roze, 1957)
|Pseudoeryx plicatilis ecuadorensis
Mertens, 1965
}}
| synonyms_ref = {{Cite web |last1=Uetz |first1=Peter |last2=Hallermann |first2=Jakob |date=2016 |title=Pseudoeryx plicatilis (LINNAEUS, 1758) |url=https://reptile-database.reptarium.cz/species?genus=Pseudoeryx&species=plicatilis&search_param=%28%28search%3D%27Pseudoeryx%27%29%29 |website=The Reptile Database}}
}}
Pseudoeryx plicatilis, the South American pond snake, is a species of snake of the family Colubridae. They can reach lengths averaging to {{Convert|1.27|m|ft|abbr=on}}.{{Cite journal |last1=Scartozzoni |first1=Rodrigo R. |last2=Trevine |first2=Vivian C. |last3=Germano |first3=Valdir J. |date=2010-10-01 |title=Reptilia, Squamata, Serpentes, Dipsadidae, Pseudoeryx plicatilis (Linnaeus, 1758): new records and geographic distribution map |url=https://checklist.pensoft.net/article/18100/ |journal=Check List |volume=6 |issue=4 |pages=534 |doi=10.15560/6.4.534 |doi-access=free |issn=1809-127X}} The body of the snake is flattened more dorsally and has smooth scales. The head is compact and the snake is composed of primarily pale dorsal yellow lines with the scales being mostly olive brown. For adults the ventral side of the snake is yellow with rows of black dots. The juveniles have ventral sides that are bright orange or red with black doted rows.
Habitat and geographic distribution
= Geographic range =
The snake is found in Colombia, Venezuela, Ecuador, Peru, Guyana, Suriname, French Guiana, Bolivia, Paraguay, Argentina, and Brazil.{{cite web |title=Pseudoeryx plicatilis |url=https://reptile-database.reptarium.cz/species?genus=Pseudoeryx&species=plicatilis&search_param=%28%28search%3D%27Pseudoeryx%27%29%29|publisher=Reptile Database |accessdate=23 January 2019}}
= Habitat =
The habitat of Pseudoeryx plicatilis consists of forest, savanna, and inland wetlands.{{Cite journal |date=2014-11-26 |title=Pseudoeryx plicatilis: Gagliardi, G., Nogueira, C. de C., Embert, D., Cisneros-Heredia, D.F., Gonzales, L., Catenazzi, A., Schargel, W., Rivas, G., Silveira, A.L., Argôlo, A.J.S., Abrahão, C.R., Strüssmann, C., Loebmann, D., Barbo, F.E., Franco, F.L., Costa, G.C., de Moura, G.J.B., Zaher, H. el D., Borges-Martins, M., Martins, M.R.C., Oliveira, M.E., Hoogmoed, M.S., Marques, O.A.V., Passos, P.G.H., Bérnils, R.S., Kawashita-Ribeiro, R.A., Sawaya, R.J. & da Costa, T.B.G. |url=https://doi.org/10.2305/iucn.uk.2019-2.rlts.t177528a44951789.en |access-date=2025-04-01 |website=IUCN Red List of Threatened Species|doi=10.2305/iucn.uk.2019-2.rlts.t177528a44951789.en }} They can be found in black-water rivers, lagoons, ponds, swamps, and oxbow lakes.{{Cite web |title=South American Pond Snake (Pseudoeryx plicatilis) |url=https://reptilesofecuador.com/pseudoeryx_plicatilis.html |access-date=2025-03-15 |website=reptilesofecuador.com}}
Behavior
These snakes are nocturnal and they perform different activities at different depths throughout the night. They have a tendency to forage or perform ambush behavior to attack prey. They are a relatively calm snake and perform many passive defensive behaviors.
= Defense tactics =
There remains to be limited knowledge about this species, however, observations of different defensive behaviors have been made. They have been seen hiding their heads and their tails, dorsally-ventrally flattening their full body, making knots out of themselves, turning their ventral region upwards, and moving in drastic erotic ways. Pseudoeryx plicatilis shares defensive traits with other species of water snake including hiding of the head, dorsally-ventrally flattening, and cloacal discharge. Each strategy has its own effect on the predator that is attempting to attack. Erotic movements demonstrate strength and protect the head, cloacal discharge is a deterrent towards the predator, and the tucking of the head and tail implies that predators attack both ends of the animal.{{Cite journal |last1=Cavalheri |first1=Diego |last2=Carvalho |first2=Priscila |last3=Santana |first3=Diego |date=2021 |title=Defensive repertory of Pseudoeryx plicatilis (Linnaeus, 1758) in the Pantanal, Mato Grosso do Sul, Brazil |url=https://sedici.unlp.edu.ar/bitstream/handle/10915/120299/Documento_completo.pdf-PDFA.pdf |journal=Cuadernos de Herpetología |volume=36 |doi=10.31017/CdH.2021.(2020-034) |doi-broken-date=}}
Biology
= Reproduction =
Pseudoeryx plicatilis is oviparous. They have a large clutch size ranging from 22 to 49 eggs. The females will protect and guard the eggs until hatching.
= Diet =
The diet of Pseudoeryx plicatilis primarily consists of aquatic organisms such as fishes and frogs.{{Cite book |last=Scartozzoni |first=R.R. |title=Estratégias reprodutivas e ecologia alimentar de serpentes aquáticas da tribo Hydropsini (Dipsadidae, Xenodontinae) |date=2009 |publisher=Universidade de São Paulo}} They have also been observed eating freshwater eels half the size of their own bodies.{{Cite journal |last1=Kaefer |first1=I |last2=Montanarin |first2=A |date=2010 |title=Pseudoeryx plicatilis (South American Pond Snake). Diet. |journal=Herpetological Review |volume=41 |issue=3 |pages=372}}
Taxonomy
= Etymology =
The genus Pseudoeryx was coined by Fitzinger in 1826.{{Cite book |last=Fitzinger |first=L. |title=Neue Classification der Reptilien nach ihren natürlichen Verwandtschaften nebst einer Verwandschafts-Tafel und einem Verzeichnisse der Reptilien-Sammlung des K. K. Zoologischen Museums zu Wien |date=1826 |publisher=J. G. Heubner |location=Vienna}} The name Pseudoeryx stems from the Greek word pseudo-, which means false. -eryx is the generic name of the old world sand boas. The species name plicatilis means foldable, from Latin terms. The species is referred to as foldable because of the ventro-lateral fold.
The species was described as Coluber plicatilis by Linnaeus in his 1758 10th edition of Systema Naturae. A second species, Pseudoeryx relictualis, was described in 2007.{{Cite journal |last=Schargel |first=Walter E. |last2=Rivas Fuenmayor |first2=Gilson |last3=Barros |first3=Tito R. |last4=Péfaur |first4=Jaime E. |last5=Navarrete |first5=Luis F. |date=2007 |title=A new aquatic snake (Colubridae: Pseudoeryx) from the Lake Maracaibo Basin, northwestern Venezuela: A relic of the past course of the Orinoco River |url=http://www.bioone.org/doi/abs/10.1655/0018-0831%282007%2963%5B236%3AANASCP%5D2.0.CO%3B2 |journal=Herpetologica |language=en |volume=63 |issue=2 |pages=236–244 |doi=10.1655/0018-0831(2007)63[236:ANASCP]2.0.CO;2 |issn=0018-0831|url-access=subscription }}
References
{{Reflist}}
{{Taxonbar|from=Q3409728}}
Category:Reptiles of Venezuela
Category:Reptiles of French Guiana
Category:Reptiles of Argentina
Category:Reptiles described in 1758
Category:Taxa named by Carl Linnaeus
{{Dipsadinae-stub}}