A new species of a burrowing water snake or Aquatic Rhabdops was discovered from the north of Western Ghats in Maharashtra, Goa and northern Karnataka by scientists after an eight-year-long research. The snake was earlier wrongly identified as the Olive Forest Snake, which is found in the Wayand district of Kerala.
Belonging to the genus Rhabdops, which is endemic to India, the medium-sized, non-venomous species is new to science and has been identified in several areas in Maharashtra such as the Koyna region, the Chandoli National Park, between Kolhapur and Sangli districts, Baraki in Kohlapur district and Amboli in Sindhudurg. In north Karnataka, it was identified from Castle Rock in Uttar Kannada and some areas in Goa.
The longest adult known specimen of this new species is 950mm in length. The average size of the King Cobra is 4,000mm. The findings were submitted to the scientific journal Zootaxa and a detailed research paper was recently published.
Adult reptiles were seen at fresh water streams in the forests and juveniles were mostly spotted in waterlogged areas near rocky plateaus. The juvenile and adult snakes are differently coloured. Their colour also varies owing to their habitat.=
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