Water Dragon

Scientific Name: Intellagama lesueurii

Size: Snout Vent Length 200 mm, Total Length 900 mm

What does it look like?

Large, very distinctive dragon, with angular head, enlarged nuchal crest, raised, ‘saw-like’ vertebral crest running length of body, and laterally depressed, long tail. Colour variable between subspecies. I. l. lesueurii grey to brownish-grey above with black transverse dorsal stripes, and broad blackish facial stripe. Yellowish-brown underneath, but males often flushed with bright red on chest and throat. Gippsland Water Dragon I. l. howittii has smaller spinose scales and no stripe between eye and ear. Yellow and blue on neck and throat, and dark blue-green on chest.

Where is it found?

Eastern Australia. I. l. lesueurii from northern Qld to southern NSW. I. l. howittii from southern NSW to eastern Vic. Introduced to other areas, including Mount Lofty Ranges near Adelaide SA.