Calamaria lateralis holds a single record in Mount Kinabalu and Java respectively. It was described to be immaculately black/ dark with a white lateral strip throughout the whole body on the second and third scale row. The short tail is tapered gradually from the end of the body to a point.

It is a very small species, with the maximum record size of 29cm. This might explain the elusiveness of why it managed to evade documentation for the longest time.

This artwork is for the book ‘Snakes of Java’.

A novelty illustration done for the guidebook Snakes of Peninsular Malaysia and Singapore because of the lack of usable photo references on the net. Aquatic snakes have highly reflective iridescent scales.