Subsessor bocourti (Jan, 1865)

Nguyen, Tan Van, Brakels, Peter, Maury, Nathanael, Sudavanh, Somchit, Pawangkhanant, Parinya, Idiiatullina, Sabira, Lorphengsy, Sengvilay, Inkhavilay, Khamla, Suwannapoom, Chatmongkon & Poyarkov, Nikolay A., 2020, New herpetofaunal observations from Laos based on photo records, Amphibian & Reptile Conservation (e 248) 14 (2), pp. 218-249 : 237-238

Subsessor bocourti (Jan, 1865)

Bocourt’s Mud Snake ( Fig. 9B)

One adult individual of S. bocourti was observed by P. Brakels on 19 March 2019 in Champhone District site 1, Savannakhet Province (16°34.728’N, 105°24.882’E; elevation 136 m asl), and another individual was observed by P. Phiapalath in May 2019 in Pathoumphone District , Champasak Province (14°41.023’N, 106°06.413’E; elevation 170 m asl) .

Morphological characters of the individuals from Savannakhet and Champasak provinces agreed well with the descriptions of Murphy and Voris (2014) and Chan-ard et al. (2015). The photographed individual ( Fig. 9B) agrees with the diagnosis of S. bocourti in the following characters: massive body size, stout; head depressed, indistinct from neck; nasals in contact; no rostral appendages; dorsal scale rows keeled. Coloration of dorsal surfaces olive with an irregular series of narrow, transverse, yellowish bars, with each bar bordered by black; eye ruby red.

Ecological notes. The first individual was observed in a lake during the daytime at ca. 1000 h while it was consuming a fish. The second individual was trapped by villagers from a shallow seasonal lake.

Distribution. In Laos, this species has been previously recorded only from Vientiane Province ( Deuve 1970). However, it is not mentioned in the recent snake species lists of Laos (see Teynié and David 2010; Murphy and Voris 2014; Uetz et al. 2020). This is the first confirmed record from Laos after the work of Deuve (1970), as well as the first record from southern part of the country in Savannakhet and Champasak provinces. Elsewhere, this species has been reported from Vietnam, Cambodia, Thailand, and Malaysia (Chan-ard et al. 2015).