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2026 | 64 | 92-99

Article title

A mango-eating Checkered Keelback Fowlea piscator (Schneider, 1799) (Serpentes: Natricidae) from West Bengal, India

Authors

Content

Title variants

Languages of publication

EN

Abstracts

EN
Checkered keelback snakes Fowlea piscator are generalist carnivores feeding on various groups of animals including fish, frogs, insects, bat, turtle, rodents and birds. They are also known to scavenge on road-killed frog and dead fishes. Unusual food items are also reported in their diet like stone, cooked chicken and boiled rice. In this present communication, mango fruit Mangifera spp. is reported in the diet of this snake species and herbivory and other unusual food habits of Indian snakes are also discussed.

Discipline

Year

Volume

64

Pages

92-99

Physical description

Contributors

  • Department of Zoology, University of Kalyani, Kalyani, West Bengal, India

References

  • [1] Abinesh, A. ,Pradeep, P. and Vishnu, S.N. (2022). Scavenging by Checkered Keelback, Fowlea piscator (Schneider 1799), at Ameenpur lake, Hyderabad, India. Reptiles & Amphibians, 29, 148-149
  • [2] Bhattacharjee, R. and Purkayastha, J. (2022). A second observation of scavenging in the Checkered keelback Fowlea piscator (Schneider, 1799). Reptiles & Amphibians, 29, 320
  • [3] D’Abreu, E.A. (1911). Do snakes swallow stones? The Journal of the Bombay Natural History Society, 21, 281
  • [4] Daniel, J.C. (2002). The Book of Indian Reptiles and Amphibians. Bombay Natural History Society, Oxford University Press, Mumbai, India, 238pp.
  • [5] Das, I. and Das, A. (2017). A Naturalist’s Guide to the Reptiles of India, Bangladesh, Bhutan, Nepal, Pakistan and Sri Lanka. Prakash Books, New Delhi, India, 176pp.
  • [6] Deshmukh, R.V., Deshmukh, S.A., Badhekar, S.A. and Katgube, S.D. (2021). Unusual feeding behavior by a Spectacled Cobra, Naja naja (Linnaeus 1785) in India. Reptiles & Amphibians, 28(1), 32-33
  • [7] Gyawani, K. (2019). Cheloniophagy by Checkered Keelback, Xenochrophis piscator (Schneider, 1799) on Indian Peacock Softshell Turtle, Nilsonnia hurum (Gray, 1830). Bionotes, 21(3), 67-70
  • [8] Hossain, M.L. (2016). Food habits of Checkered Keelback, Xenochrophis piscator (Schneider, 1799), in Bangladesh. Bangladesh Journal of Zoology, 44, 153-161. https://doi.org/10.3329/bjz.v44i1.30185
  • [9] Lillywhite, B.H., Sheeby III, C.M. and Zaidan III, F. (2008). Pitviper scavenging at the intertidal zone: an evolutionary scenario for invasion of the sea. Bioscience, 58, 947-955. https://doi.org/10.1641/B581008
  • [10] Moktadir, N.A. and Hasan, M.K. (2016). Unusual feeding behavior of the Checkered Keelback Xenochrophis piscator in Jahangirnagar University Campus, Savar, Dhaka, Bangladesh. Reptile Rap, 18, 32-33
  • [11] Mookerjee, S. (1946). Mango-fruit-on the menu of the common python (Python molurus). The Journal of the Bombay Natural History Society, 46, 733
  • [12] Parmar, D.S. and Patel, V.D. (2022). Plastic ingestion by the Indian snakes Ptyas mucosa and Coelognathus helena helena (Serpentes: Colubridae). Phyllomedusa, 21(1), 91-94
  • [13] Sharma, V., Sayyed, A. and Bhandari, R. (2016). Herbivory and inanimate objects in the diet of the Oriental Ratsnake, Ptyas mucosa (Linnaeus 1758). Reptiles & Amphibians, 23(2), 102-103
  • [14] Vadhavana, H. and Thanki, N. (2024). A report on unusual diet of Checkered Keelback from Vadodara, Gujarat. Reptile Rap #251, In: Zoo’s Print, 39(6), 12-14
  • [15] Wewhare, N. and Pandey, U. (2021). First record of scavenging by a Checkered Keelback, Fowlea piscator (Schneider 1799) (Natricidae), in Western Maharashtra, India. Reptiles & Amphibians, 28, 348-349
  • [16] Whitaker, R. and Captain, A. (2004). Snakes of India, The Field Guide. Draco Books, Chennai, India, 479 pp.

Document Type

article

Publication order reference

Identifiers

YADDA identifier

bwmeta1.element.psjd-2946216d-8148-4d03-96c6-6e3a209ebe05
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