Homalopsis mereljcoxi

Homalopsis mereljcoxi (Homalopsis mereljcoxi) is a snake recorded for Vietnam in the project inventory. Its supporting occurrence note is “Expert range list”. The accepted scientific name is retained because regional snake taxonomy and species boundaries can change, while similar-looking species may require scale counts, anatomy or genetic evidence for reliable separation. This profile therefore distinguishes the recorded identity and occurrence from broader biological context instead of inventing unsupported locality, size, diet or breeding details (project species data; Reptile Database taxonomy).

Homalopsis water snakes are robust, aquatic homalopsids of lowland fresh and brackish wetlands. They are mainly nocturnal hunters of fishes, frogs and other aquatic animals, swimming through slow water and sheltering in banks or dense vegetation. Members bear live young and have rear fangs, so handling wild snakes is inappropriate. These are genus-level notes rather than confirmed observations of this species in Vietnam, and exact size, habitat, prey and litter values are omitted (general Homalopsis account; Reptile Database).