Northern water snake The belly also varies in color. It can be white, yellow, or gray. Usually it also has reddish or black crescents. The northern water snake is nonvenomous and harmless to humans, but superficially resembles the venomous cottonmouth and is often killed unnecessarily as a result of this mistaken identity. The two can be easily distinguished by morphological traits: the water snake has a longer, more slender body and a flattened head the same width as the neck, round pupils, and no heat-sensing pits. The cottonmouth has a fatter body, a wedge-shaped head with prominent venom glands that are wider than
Burmese keelback water snake Burmese keelback water snake The Burmese keelback water snake ("Xenochrophis bellulus") is a species of water snake described by Stoliczka in 1871. It is known only from three examples collected in Myanmar, including a recent specimen from 2010. The Burmese keelback water snake is relatively small in size, and grow to a maximal length of between 4 and 6 centimetres. The body is elongated with a moderately long tail, and is covered by keeled scales on the dorsal section. The species is endemic to Myanmar, and is believed to have an extensive habitat extending across the interior of the country.