Nerodia fasciata
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| Southern 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 with which they share a habitat, including the less common and venomous cottonmouth.
[edit] Reproduction
[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.
