Mertens’ Water Monitor
Varanus mertensi
-16.8, 125.84
Field Notes
Description:
This lovely reptile is in the midst of shedding (see pic 2)...and the new skin (see pic 1) is just beautiful! The Mertens' Water Monitor is "...dark brown to black above, with many cream to yellow spots. The underparts are paler – white to yellowish – with grey mottling on the throat and blue-grey bars on the chest. The tail is strongly compressed laterally, with a high median dorsal keel, and is about 1.5 times the length of head and body." (Wiki)
They are semiaquatic reptiles, "...great swimmers, and have a special valve in their nostrils that closes when they dive. Their nostrils are also on the top of their head, like a crocodile’s, so that they can stay partially submerged in the water when searching for prey. (Australian Reptile Park: http://reptilepark.com.au/animals/reptiles/monitors/mertens-water-monit… )
Habitat:
Basking on the rock near the edge of the waterhole in Galvan's Gorge.
Notes:
The Management Guidelines for Merten's Water Monitor Varanus mertensi states, "Importance as an indicator: This species is found where it has access to abundant food - fish, frogs, carrion, insects and small terrestrial vertebrates - and can lay its eggs in a burrow in the ground, away from predators. It appears to have declined with the spread of cane toads, being particularly sensitive to the toad’s toxin. Recovery of Mertens' Water Monitor populations from areas where it has declined indicates local adaptation to this exotic pest." : http://www.landmanager.org.au/management-guidelines-mertens-water-monit… - Cane toads have already reached Gibb River Station which is to the NE of Galvan's Gorge where this Monitor was spotted.
The conservation status of this reptile in the Northern Territory is either Vulnerable according to Atlas of Living Australia: http://bie.ala.org.au/species/urn:lsid:biodiversity.org.au:afd.taxon:52…
I have not been able to find the status for the Kimberley region at this time.
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