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Amphibians and reptiles

Rainbow water snake

Amazing fact

The rainbow water snake has pale stripes running along its body and tail that meet on top of its head.

Aquatic Bioresource Research Lab, Sher-e-Bangla Agricultural University
Rainbow water snake in its habitat (illustration)

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An illustration based on the real animal.

A little discovery to share.

The rainbow water snake has pale stripes running along its body and tail that meet on top of its head.

SourceAquatic Bioresource Research Lab, Sher-e-Bangla Agricultural University — Enhydris enhydris

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THE REAL WORLD

The real Rainbow water snake

Scientific name
Enhydris enhydris
Japanese name
スジミズヘビ
Group
Amphibians and reptiles
Class
Reptilia
Order
Squamata
Family
Homalopsidae
Genus
Enhydris
Facts about the real animal.
01

A snake that lives in southern China, the Indochinese Peninsula, Malaysia and nearby areas.

鳥羽水族館 — スジミズヘビ
02

Its whole body is glossy, and it is sometimes called the “rainbow water snake.”

鳥羽水族館 — スジミズヘビ
03

It gives birth to live young instead of laying eggs, and it has a mild venom.

鳥羽水族館 — スジミズヘビ

How the Rainbow water snake lives

It lives in still or slow-moving waters, such as rice paddies and canals.

Aquatic Bioresource Research Lab, Sher-e-Bangla Agricultural University

Basic data

Range
Southern China, Indochina, Malaysia, and elsewhere
鳥羽水族館

Where the Rainbow water snake has been recorded

World map with dots where the Rainbow water snake has been recorded
Each dot marks a place with observations or specimens shared on GBIF. Some records are of animals that strayed or were brought by people, so the dots are not always where the animal lives.

Records: GBIF.org (CC0 and CC BY 4.0 records, retrieved 2026-11-07). Map: Natural EarthSee the records on GBIF

Where it livesAsiaRivers and wetlands

Watch wild animals from a distance. Do not touch or feed them, and take care of the places where they live.

Names around the world

简体中文
彩虹水蛇
繁體中文
彩虹水蛇
Bahasa Indonesia
Ular-air pelangi
Tiếng Việt
Rắn bông súng

Names come from Wikidata and iNaturalist records. Where a language has no recorded name, we use the scientific name.

Sources and how we check

We check each fact against its source. The illustrations simplify how the real animal looks.

The classification (class, order, family, genus) follows Wikidata records, checked against GBIF. Classifications can change as research goes on.

The basic data are the values given in each source. They vary with how the animal is measured, whether it is male or female, and whether it lives in the wild or in captivity.

This page was translated from the original Japanese with the help of AI.

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