[3] Daudin's original holotype of a subadult specimen was collected on Ambon, Indonesia, and has since disappeared from the museum in Paris.

Daudin's original name for the species was Tupinambis indicus, an appellation it would carry for 100 years until being renamed as a Varanus.

[6] The generic name Varanus is derived from the Arabic word waral (ورل), which translates to English as "monitor".

[7] Its specific name, indicus, is Latin for the country of India, but in this instance it relates to Indonesia or the East Indies, where the animal was first described.

It also occurs on the Moluccan islands of Morotai, Ternate, Halmahera, Obi, Buru, Ambon, Haruku, and Seram in Indonesia.

[6][11] The mangrove monitor attains different sizes in different parts of its range, but seldom if ever exceeds 1.3 m in total length.

[11] The mangrove monitor is an opportunistic carnivore, feeding on the eggs of reptiles and birds, mollusks, rodents, insects, crabs, smaller lizards, fish, and carrion.

The Reptilian Zoo in Vlissingen, the Netherlands,[19] was reported to have successfully hatched eggs by a female animal which was not in any contact with a male of the same species.

[11] Mangrove monitors are often kept in zoos and private collections, as they are an active and alert, and generally can be handled if tamed properly.