Arafura File Snake
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Acrochordus arafurae or the Arafura File Snake
The Arafura file snake inhabits the lowland freshwater systems of northern Australia and New Guinea. As a non-venomous snake they kill their food (mainly fish) by constriction, much like land-dwelling pythons. The skin of the file snake is very coarse (hence the name 'file snake'), which enables it to grip the slippery fish it preys
on. While quite agile in the water, file snakes are awkward movers on land. Despite this, they can travel for hundreds of metres when necessary.
Arafura File Snake has a remarkably low rate of food intake, but the food that is eaten is digested with great efficiency. It's thought that the scales of the file snake's skin contains sensory organs that help the snakes to find their prey. The file snake is sexually dimorphic, with females generally being much larger, reaching up to 2.5 metres in length. The males grow to about 1.5 metres long. Female file snakes give birth to up to 27 babies every two or three years.
Did you know...
- The Arafura file snake inhabits the lowland freshwater systems of northern Australia and New Guinea.
- The skin of the file snake is very coarse (hence the name 'File Snake'), which enables it to grip the slippery fish it preys on.
- File snakes have a remarkably low rate of food intake, but the food that is eaten is digested with great efficiency.
- While quite agile in the water, file snakes are awkward movers on land. Despite this, they can travel for hundreds of metres when necessary.
Where File Snakes are found in Australia:
