Nerodia fasciata
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| iSouthern Water Snake | ||||||||||||||||||||
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| Nerodia fasciata Linnaeus, 1766 |
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Coluber fasciatus |
The Southern Water Snake (Nerodia fasciata) is a species of mostly aquatic, non-venomous, colubrid snake found in the central and southeastern United States, from Indiana, south to Texas and east to Florida.
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[edit] Description
The Southern Water Snake grows from 24 to 48 inches, and is typically gray, green-gray or brown in color with dark crossbanding. Many specimens are so dark in color their patterning is barely discernible. They have a flat head, and are fairly heavy bodied. Their appearance leads them to frequently be mistaken for other snakes which they share habitat, including the venomous cottonmouth. Water snakes are much more common than the cottonmouth, and unfortunately, human ignorance and fear often leads to them being killed.
[edit] Subspecies
There are three recognized subspecies of N. fasciata:
- Nerodia fasciata confluens (Blanchard, 1923)
- Nerodia fasciata fasciata (Linnaeus, 1766)
- Nerodia fasciata pictiventris (Cope, 1895)
[edit] Taxonomy
Some sources consider Nerodia clarkii compressicauda and Nerodia clarkii taeniata to be subspecies of Nerodia fasciata.
