Nerodia floridana
| Nerodia floridana | |
|---|---|
 | |
Scientific classification  | |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Class: | Reptilia |
| Order: | Squamata |
| Suborder: | Serpentes |
| Family: | Colubridae |
| Genus: | Nerodia |
| Species: | N. floridana |
| Binomial name | |
| Nerodia floridana (Goff, 1936) | |
| Synonyms[1] | |
Nerodia floridana, commonly known as the Florida green watersnake, is a harmless North American species of water snake in the family Colubridae.
Description
N. floridana is the largest watersnake in North America. Fully grown it will typically reach 76–140 cm (30–55 in) in total length (including tail), with the record-sized specimen having measured 188 cm (74 in) in total length.[2] Its coloration is solid greenish-brownish with a whitish belly in adults. Juveniles have about 50 dark crossbars down the dorsum and on the sides, which fade gradually with age.[3]
Geographic range
N. floridana is found throughout Florida and in parts of southern Georgia with two isolated populations in western and southern South Carolina.[4]
Habitat
N. floridana prefers choked vegetation and calm waters such as swamps and marshes. It can also be found in lakes, ponds, ditches, and slow rivers and occasionally in brackish water.[4]
Conservation status
In Georgia and South Carolina N. floridana is considered "state imperiled".[4]
Diet
The diet of N. floridana consists of small aquatic life such as frogs, tadpoles, salamanders, and fish.
References
- ↑ "Nerodia floridana ". The Reptile Database. www.reptile-database.org.
- ↑ "Nerodia floridana ". University of Florida.
- ↑ South Carolina Department of Natural Resources: Florida green watersnake
- 1 2 3 University of Georgia, Herpetology Program
Photo links
External links
Further reading
- Conant R, Bridges W (1939). What Snake Is That? A Field Guide to the Snakes of the United States East of the Rocky Mountains. (With 108 drawings by Edmond Malnate). New York and London: D. Appleton-Century. Frontispiece map + viii + 163 pp. + Plates A-C, 1-32. (Natrix cyclopion floridana, pp. 91-92 + Plate 15, figure 43).
- Goff CC (1936). "Distribution and Variation of a New Subspecies of Water Snake, Natrix cyclopion floridana, with a Discussion of its Relationships". Occ. Pap. Mus. Zool., Univ. Michigan (327): 1-12.
- Schmidt KP, Davis DD (1941). Field Book of Snakes of the United States and Canada. New York: G.P. Putnam's Sons. 365 pp. (Natrix cyclopion floridana, pp. 216-217).
- Smith HM, Brodie ED Jr (1982). Reptiles of North America: A Guide to Field Identification. New York: Golden Press. 240 pp. ISBN 0-307-13666-3 (paperback), ISBN 0-307-47009-1 (hardcover). (Nerodia cyclopion floridana, pp. 154-155).
- Wright AH, Wright AA (1957). Handbook of Snakes of the United States and Canada. Ithaca and London: Comstock Publishing Associates, a division of Cornell University Press. 1,105 pp. (in 2 volumes). (Natrix cyclopion floridana, pp. 474-477, Figure 140 + Map 38 on p. 467).