Helicops angulatus (Linnaeus, 1758)

Guedes, Thaís B., Nogueira, Cristiano & Marques, Otavio A. V., 2014, Diversity, natural history, and geographic distribution of snakes in the Caatinga, Northeastern Brazil, Zootaxa 3863 (1), pp. 1-93 : 42

Helicops angulatus (Linnaeus, 1758) “Cobra-d’água”

(Figs. 15.5 and 28.2)

It was recorded in the states of Piauí, Ceará, Paraíba, and Sergipe. The records in Caatinga are in low altitudes (up to 560 m elevation). This species also occurs in the Amazon Forest, Cerrado, and Pantanal regions ( Cunha & Nascimento 1978; Martins & Oliveira 1998; Marques et al. 2005; Nogueira et al. 2010). It inhabits arboreal and bush caatinga next to the eastern Atlantic Forest and relictual moist forests in highland areas. As other congeneric species, it is an aquatic snake and consequently, its distribution is determined by the presence of water bodies and dependent on the dranage system (see Rodrigues 2005). It is diurnal and nocturnal, and feeds mostly on frogs and fishes ( Marques et al. 2005; Scartozzoni 2009).