Kikuzato's Brook Snake

Kikuzato's Brook Snake (Opisthotropis kikuzatoi) is an aquatic natricine snake also called Kikuzato's Stream Snake. The holotype was a male measuring 533 mm, and the species has passed through several generic combinations since its original 1958 description as Liopeltis kikuzatoi. Identification should combine the documented shell or scale characters with locality, because related reptiles can be similar. All claims are limited to the species accounts opened for this batch (Wikipedia, general species account; Reptile Database).

It is endemic to flowing streams on Kumejima in Japan's Ryukyu Islands. This nocturnal, egg-laying snake feeds on fish, frogs, tadpoles, freshwater shrimp and earthworms, making its natural history closely tied to freshwater channels and their prey communities (Reptile Database; Wikipedia, general species account). Details not supported at species level are omitted rather than supplied from related reptiles. Japanese occurrence follows the site's catalogue and the cited distribution information, without using any IUCN conservation material (Wikipedia, general species account; Reptile Database).