V. mitchelli Daly River, NT

Varanus mitchelli was described earlier as a member of the subgenera Varanus, because it shows a laterally compressed tail. BÖHME (1988, 1993) assign him due to genital morphological results to the subgenera Odatria. Also the round tail base is another reason to put this species also into this subgenera.
The coloration of V. mitchelli is deep brown till blue-black or blackish on the upper side. The head is covered with cream-colored or yellow spots, the body is covered with numerous yellowish spots, points or small ocelli which have a black central spot. A yellowish temporal stripe is only indistinctly visible, against this the throat and the sides of the neck are lemon yellow with black points or spots. Black joists are visible on the lower jaw. The bottom edge of the eye is shiningly yellow. The limbs are black on the upper side and have yellow spots. The coloration of the tail is black with numerous little yellow or cream-colored spots. The belly side is cream-colored with a greenish trace. The head scales are smooth. The nostril is positioned at the side of the snout, pointing up, it is a little bit closer to the tip of the snout than to the eye. 90-130 scale rows are around midbody. The tail is at the base round (see above) squeezed together strongly at the lower end. A clearly visible double keel is visible on the top side of the second half of the tail. The tail scales are ordered in regular rings, they are occasional incomplete at the sides. The tail is 1.7-2.2 times as long as SVL. The total length is up to 60 cm.

V. mitchelli Kununurra, WA	V. mitchelli Kununurra, WA	V. mitchelli Wyndham, WA

The distribution of V. mitchelli is restricted to the tropical north of Australia from Derby in the west to Borroloola in the east (MERTENS 1958, KEAST 1959, WORRELL 1966, BUSTARD 1968, SWANSON 1976, STORR 1980, STORR et al. 1983b, WILSON & KNOWLES 1988, HOSER 1989, COGGER 1992, EHMANN 1992).
V. mitchelli was always considered as smaller member of the water monitors, but it is more a tree climber in his habitat which can be frequently found close to the wateredges (BEDFORD pers. comm.). However, this monitor isn't dependent to water, as e.g. V. mertensi. Examinations of stomach contents showed, that spiders, crickets, beetles, fish, crustacaea, frogs, skinks, and mice make the main diet for V. mitchelli (SHINE 1986).