These snakes are often observed and locally well known by their banding, black and yellow like a tiger, although the species can be highly variable in colouration and patterning.

[7] Names for these subdivisions include the western types, appended to both species names as occidentalis (Glauert 1948) The island groups have also been described as subspecies: Chappell Island tiger snake as N. ater serventyi (Warrell, 1963), King Island and Tasmanian tiger snakes subspecies as N. ater humphreysi, (Warrell, 1963) and the Peninsula tiger snake as N. ater niger (Kinghorn 1921).

Notechis is a genus of large venomous snakes in the family Elapidae restricted to subtropical and temperate regions of Australia.

Tiger snakes are a large group of distinct populations, which may be isolated or overlapping, with extreme variance in size and colour.

The total length is typically about 1.2 metres (3 ft 11 in)[10] The patterning is darker bands, strongly contrasting or indistinct, which are pale to very dark in colour.

Tiger snakes use venom to kill prey, and may also bite an aggressor; they are potentially fatal to humans.

The widely dispersed populations (sometimes referred as polymorphs) show some conformity in their descriptions, but these characters may be shared by separate or adjacent groups.

The common tiger snake has a flat, blunt head, slightly distinct from a robust body.

The western tiger snake head is distinct from its robust body, and grows to 2 m (6 ft 7 in) in length.

The King Island and Tasmanian tiger snakes each have a blunt head distinct from a robust body.

The Peninsula tiger snake has a blunt head distinct from a robust body; it averages 1.1 m (3 ft 7 in) in length.

The ventral surface is dark grey to black, with some specimens on Kangaroo Island even possessing red bellies.

Tiger snakes give birth to 20 to 30 live young; an exceptional record was made of 64 from an eastern female.

Tiger snakes are usually found in coastal regions, where they favour wetlands, creeks, dams, and other habitat around watercourses, or at shelter near permanent sources of water in pastoral areas.

Tiger snakes accounted for 17% of identified snakebite victims in Australia between 2005 and 2015, with four deaths recorded from 119 confirmed envenomations.

Symptoms of a bite include localized pain in the foot and neck region, tingling, numbness, and sweating, followed by a fairly rapid onset of breathing difficulties and paralysis.