CHARACTERISTICS: rough scales; brown, yellow, green or grey dorsal scales, with dark spots in a zig-zag pattern; occasional melanic individuals; short round nose; aglyphous. FOOD: larvae and adult amphibia, fish and invertebrates; occasionally small mammals and reptiles. ECOLOGY AND BEHAVIOUR: aquatic and terrestrial; less agile on land, feeds mainly in water; when threatened fakes death, produces a fetid smell or tries to bite.
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