Range: Fiji and Solomon Islands and parts of New Guinea in the South Pacific.
Habitat: Rainforests, marshes, and swamps. Semiarboreal to terrestrial.
Description: Body usually slightly compressed and covered with keeled and smooth scales. Coloration is tan to rosy with reddish-brown blotches forming ring-like or zig-zag pattern on the back and sides. The clearly set-off triangular head terminates in a straight snout edge. Males have rather large anal spurs which are usually absent in females.
Adaptations/Habitat: Often very aggressive. They are "viper mimics" defending themselves by coiling in viper fashion, hissing and striking at intruders. They are also "sympatric": they coexist with various pythons and other species of Candoia without conflict by exploiting different habitats (e.g terrestrial in some and arboreal in others). They hunt and capture their prey by biting its head or just behind it, wrapping its powerful body around the prey, then constricting with each exhale of the animal's until airflow is cut off and the animal suffocates. The prey is swallowed whole and is pushed through the mouth by a lower jaw that is not contiguous and can split apart at the median. Jaw hinge ligaments that stretch wide and teeth that face toward the back of the mouth aid in "walking" the prey into the gullet. As with all boas, they are considered a primitive snake with less complex and defined internal organs. The boas of the south seas are unique in the Boidae family and appear to be most closely related to the Caribbean and Rainbow boas of the genus Epicrates.
