Nerodia erythrogaster

Nerodia erythrogaster
plain-bellied water snake
Nerodia erythrogaster
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Reptilia
Order: Squamata
Suborder: Serpentes
Family: Colubridae
Genus: Nerodia
Species: N. erythrogaster
Binomial name
Nerodia erythrogaster
(Forster, 1771)
Synonyms
  • Coluber erythrogaster
    Forster, 1771
  • Tropidonotus erythrogaster
    Holbrook, 1842
  • Tropidonotus transversus
    Hallowell, 1852
  • Nerodia erythrogaster
    Baird & Girard, 1853
  • Natrix fasciata erythrogaster
    Cope, 1888
  • Natrix sipedon erythrogaster
    Allen, 1932
  • Natrix erythrogaster
    Clay, 1938
  • Natrix e. erythrogaster
    Conant, 1958
  • Nerodia e. erythrogaster
    Conant & Collins, 1991

Nerodia erythrogaster, commonly known as the plain-bellied water snake or plainbelly water snake, is a familiar species of mostly aquatic, nonvenomous, colubrid snake endemic to the United States.

Geographic range

This species ranges through much of the southeastern United States, from Michigan to Delaware in the north, and Texas to northern Florida in the south, but it is absent from the Florida peninsula and the higher elevations of the Appalachian Mountains.

Habitat

They are almost always found near a permanent water source, a lake, stream, pond, or other slow moving body.

Description

Adults are 24–40 inches (76–122 cm) in total length, and can reach up to 55 inches in some states such as Kansas.

It gets its common name because it has no patterning on its underside. Subspecies can vary in color from brown, to gray, to olive green, with dark-colored blotching down the back, and an underside that is yellow, brown, red, or green.

Behavior

It is quick to vigorously defend itself by striking repeatedly and flattening its head making it look like a cottonmouth. Which is why it's commonly mistaken for a venomous snake.

Reproduction

This species bears live young (ovoviviparous) like other North American water snakes and garter snakes. In North Carolina and Georgia, the plain-bellied water snake breeds from April to June, and broods of 5-27 young are born in August to October. In 2014 a captive female produced two healthy offspring via parthenogenesis.[2]

Subspecies

There are six recognized subspecies of N. erythrogaster, including the nominotypical subspecies:

References

  1. Hammerson, G.A.; Frost, D.R; Santos-Barrera, G. (2007). "Nerodia erythrogaster". IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. Version 2007. International Union for Conservation of Nature. Retrieved 2017-05-20.
  2. Smith, Jules D. (20 September 2015). "Captive Snake Gives Second Virgin Birth in Two Months". themarketbusiness.com. Retrieved 22 September 2015.

Original publication

Further reading

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