Reptile & Amphibian Forums

To continue the discussion from below, and correct some mis-information.

IF the monitor pictured is V. s. komaini, then it is not a new species. It is, however, a VALID subspecies. It was formally described by J. Nutphand in 1987. It was further validated by Lauprasert and Thirakupt in 2001. It is recognized by W. Bohme in his CHECKLIST OF LIVING MONITORS (2003), which is the list recognized by Eidenmueller in his book, and the one Pianka says guided him in his VARANOID LIZARDS OF THE WORLD.

The vendor may well be telling the truth when he says that it came from Malaysia. If it did, it must be komaini, which however DOES occur in northern Malaysia, as well as southern Thailand. The Thais are calling this monitor the "Black Jungle Monitor" in English.

Harold De Lisle

Haha sorry I copied and pasted off mampam. I was not aware it was a valid name yet though glad you pointed that out.

I still believe my eyes and they tell me it is Komaini. But maybe thats because I see what is there and not what the ad tells me is there?

I don't know anything about black water monitors, but I just thought I'd mention that in my experience Glades is a fairly honest and reputable vendor.
Neal
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pale reason hides the infinite from us