Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Hi folks! Just returned from a wonderful week of diving and wondered if anybody could help me ID a snake I saw in the water...I can't find a good online site that has pictures. He was seen multiple times in about 4 feet of water on the sandy bottom near the reef in Punta Cana, Dominican Republic.

I don't have a photo of him (or her) but he was about 2 feet long, had a pale/white body with many small "spots" which each consisted of a 4-5 mm black ring around a yellow center (sort of a target effect). He did not appear to have the dorsoventrally flattened tail of a true water snake, but was obviously quite at home out there. His head was definately snakelike in shape, not an eel.

Poor description, I know, but if anybody has any ideas on who this might have been, I'd be interested to know them!

Thanks, snakelovers!

Wendy

I am not terribly familiar with the snakes of the West Indies but I do know they have relatively few "water snakes" due to the paucity of fresh water aquatic habitats (there are no sea snakes in the Atlantic). Most likely it is a racer of some sort that was going for a swim. Take a look at the link I've provided. It's probably the best online herp resource for the area right now.
Herps of the West Indies

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Pierson Hill

Herpetology and Herpetoculture

Thanks for your quick reply! I didn't see my snake's picture on any of the many photos in the link you sent, but I emailed the site's link...certainly he seems knowledgable about the local fauna. I wonder if my guy was a juvinile of one of the land species? He just blended into the sand so well, he certainly seemed to belong down there. I'm also going to check into local eels...maybe I'm an idiot and I only thought he was a real snake. Either way, thanks!

Wendy

....further research makes the Goldspotted Eel my most likely candidate...not a snake at all. The picture sure looks like him, and I can see from the photos why I thought he was a snake...no fins like a moray has, and a fairly fusiform snakelike head.

Happy Herping, and thanks!

Wendy

hey, yea i went to punta cana several years ago and i saw what i thought also was a snake that exactly fit that discription. so maybe you found the same snake i saw.

Jim

I have it on a few good authorities that it's actually an eel.....a goldspotted eel from the pictures. Glad I'm not the only one who was sure it was a real snake!

Wendy