How do fishing snakes fish?

There is a peculiar water snake in Southeast Asia, known as the arrow-nosed water snake in China, which has excellent fishing skills. The fleshy growth in its mouth and nose can be used to lure fish and shrimp to the door, and then quickly open its mouth and bite and inject venom. Just like a deep angler, it is also commonly known as fishing snakes. Let's take a look at how fishing snakes fish.

How do fishing snakes fish?

Arrow-nosed water snakes spend most of their time in the water, fixing their bodies with their tails to ambush small fish that pass by. The fleshy growth in its mouth and nose can be used to lure fish and shrimps to the door, then quickly open their mouths and inject venom, and can even "intimidate" small fish to swim into their mouths. Fishing snakes, predators, have evolved so sophisticated that the nervous system can predict how fish behave when they are frightened. In addition, scientists also found that the arrow-nosed water snake can emit sound waves from the middle of the body, causing the fish to turn around and swim into the snake's mouth.

How do fishing snakes hunt?

Fishing snakes can successfully interfere with their prey and accurately predict their next behavior, and the snake's body shows a rare "J" shape when it preys on fish. it is not until the fish enters the range that the word "J" can catch that it takes action. The predation process is only a few percent of a second, and it is difficult to see clearly with the naked eye. Sometimes the speed can be even faster, reaching a few thousandths of a second. Unlike ordinary predators, fishing snakes do not chase their prey in the direction of flight in the first place, but put their head directly in the direction in which they predict the escape of the fish.

What does a fishing snake look like?

The largest body length of the fishing snake is about 70cm 100cm. This pale brown aquatic snake has two tentacle-like creature on its angular head, so it is easy to identify other snake species with similar appearance in the world. The fishing snake's scale ridge is raised, and the ventral scale is thinner and smaller, thus greatly reducing its activity on land. It is an egg-bearing snake species, giving birth to about 513 young snakes at a time, which can begin to move like adults a few hours after birth.