Tentacled Snake

Tentacled snakes are unique aquatic snakes that live in Peninsular Southeast Asia in Cambodia, Vietnam, and Thailand.

These small snakes are fish eaters that only rarely eat other creatures like frogs or softshell crabs. They may only come out of the water to burrow in the mud if the water they live in dries up too much.

Incredible Tentacled Snake Facts

• The only snake to have tentacles coming out of the front of its head.
• It’s fully aquatic and spends its entire life in the water, and babies are born in the water.
• They move so little that algae grow on their scales. 90% of their time is spent not moving a muscle.
• Tentacled snakes can predict where their prey is going to be, and no one knows how.

Scientific Name and Classification

This snake is of the monotypic genus Erpeton in the Colubridae subfamily Homalopsidae. Their subfamily has about 50 species of Indo-Australian water snakes. Its scientific name is Erpeton tentaculatum, and specific name means tentacles.

Its common name of tentacled snake is appropriate and describes the unusual appendages on its head.

Appearance

This small, completely aquatic snake is extremely flat with keeled scales. It typically measures 20-35 inches and has two phases: Striped or blotched. The base color can be dark gray, brown, or light tan. Like other snakes, they shed, but not many people seem to have witnessed it. It’s possible that the algae they grow on their scales are part of a symbiotic relationship, but that’s unclear.

The tentacled snake is appropriately named; two scaly appendages extend from the front of its head. It’s the only snake to have something like this. Not much is known for certain about the tentacles or their purpose. However, it’s likely that they have some use as a lure for prey, a camouflage tool, or helpful in locating prey. The tentacles have nerves that connect to the brain, where it receives and processes optic signals. So it is possible that they function as an extra sense to understand their environment. Additionally, its nostrils are placed on top of its head with valves that allow it to close the nostrils.

This species is mildly venomous and not considered dangerous to people. Its fangs are small and set very far back in its mouth and are only partially grooved. The venom is only dangerous to the fish it eats.

Behavior

Most of what we know about tentacled snakes’ behavior and life cycle comes from captive-bred individuals in zoos and private collections. There just isn’t much field research on them. These snakes spend their lives in water and can stay underwater for up to 30 minutes, pretending to be a stick.

Tentacled snakes have a unique hunting strategy. Technically, they’re ambush predators, but they manipulate the water around them to get prey to come to them. These snakes hang upside down in the water in a “J” shape, using their prehensile tails to hold their bodies steady. They herd prey by bumping out part of their body, which causes a wave and startles the fish. Their bump wave often makes it turn towards the snakes’ mouths.

The subject of scientific study, these snakes seem particularly skilled at predicting where the fish’s head will be and strike at that location instead of where it currently is. When they prepare to strike, they retract their eyes to protect themselves.

When threatened, tentacled snakes extend their bodies and do their best imitation of a stick. They even continue the act if you pick them up out of the water. It’s not quite as dramatic as the hognose’s display, but it’s still impressive.

This species is diurnal and sometimes burrows into the mud to rest at night. They also burrow during the dry season, but they’re awkward and slow on the land, so don’t spend much time there.

Habitat and Diet

A tentacled snake lives its entire life in murky water like ponds, rice paddies, and slow-moving streams. It can live in fresh, brackish, or seawater and is endemic to Peninsular Southeast Asia in Thailand, Cambodia, and southern Vietnam.

A great example of where it likes to live is Tonle Sap lake in Central Cambodia. It has a lot of vegetation that sits at and below the water line, where it can do its stick impression.

This species almost exclusively eats fish; however, they’ve also been seen eating frogs and crabs. Young snakes eat only fish until they’re a little bigger. In zoos and collections, they’re typically fed goldfish.

Predators, Threats, Conservation, and Population

According to the IUCN, the tentacled snake is common throughout its range and listed as a species of Least Concern. Although it’s harvested for food, those numbers are small and not likely to impact the global population. Their overall population isn’t known for certain, but they do seem to have a healthy population.

That’s not to say that it doesn’t have threats. Aquaculture in its native range is reducing its preferred habitat of murky water. It’s also preyed upon by other predators and captured for the pet trade illegally. However, there are some fungal diseases that affect reptiles that could become an even bigger problem than poaching and aquaculture.

Reproduction, Babies, and Lifespan

This species is reported to live about 10-20 years. They can make interesting pets, although they’re more of a display animal and require very specific living arrangements. Because they’re fully aquatic, it’s actually dangerous for them to be out of the water, so handling really needs to be limited.

They give birth to live babies, but scientists don’t know much about their mating habits in the wild, but they give birth to live babies. In keeping with this snake’s underwater lifestyle, their babies are born underwater. After several months of gestation, the females give birth to 1-5 live babies.