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ARAFURA FILE SNAKE FACTS |
Description
Acrochordus arafurae is an aquatic snake species found in northern Australia and New Guinea. Adults grown to 8.25 ft (2.5 m) in length. They have amazingly loose skin and are known to prey on large fish, such as eel-tailed catfish. Females are usually larger than males and they have been known to give birth to up to 17 young. The indigenous peoples of northern Australia often hunt these snakes as they are quite common. As the snakes are near immobilized without the support of water the hunters merely throw each newly caught snake on the bank and continue hunting until they have enough. In New Guinea the skin is used to make drums.
Size
2.5m
Habitat
swamps, streams, estuaries
Food
fish, such as eel-tailed catfish
Range
northern Australia and New Guinea.
Credits:
Map is from Atlas of Living Australia website at https://biocache.ala.org.au licensed under Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 License.
Classification
| Class: | Reptilia | | Order: | Squamata (Serpentes) | | Family: | Acrochordidae | | Genus: | Acrochordus | | Species: | arafurae | | Common Name: | Arafura File Snake |
Relatives in same Genus
Little File Snake (A. granulatus)
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