Mertens' Water Monitor

About

Mertens' water monitor is a species of monitor lizard in the family Varanidae. The species is native to northern Australia, and is a wide-ranging, actively foraging, opportunistic predator of aquatic and riparian habitats. It is named after German herpetologist Robert Mertens.

How to spot it

Mertens' water monitor grows to a total length (tail included) of about 2.0 m (6.6 ft). It 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. Amongst all monitor species, including even the water monitors of the subgenus Soterosaurus, Mertens' wat

Documented on these trails

Found in

• Berry Springs Nature Park — The Top End — Kakadu, Litchfield & Darwin, NT hikes