Florida cottonmouth
Florida cottonmouth | |
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Scientific classification | |
Domain: | Eukaryota |
Kingdom: | Animalia |
Phylum: | Chordata |
Class: | Reptilia |
Order: | Squamata |
Suborder: | Serpentes |
Family: | Viperidae |
Genus: | Agkistrodon |
Species: | A. conanti
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Binomial name | |
Agkistrodon conanti |
The Florida cottonmouth (Agkistrodon conanti) is a
It is a moderately large, thick bodied snake, adults averaging 30 to 48 inches (76-122 cm) in length, but rare individuals can exceed 6 feet (183 cm). The head is marked with conspicuous black cheek stripes on each side, set off by light cream or white stripes above and below. The body is olive brown, dark brown, to black and with 10 to 17 dark bands. The dark bands are often darker at the edges but lighter with irregular markings or spotting in the center. The snakes often grow darker with age, and the banding and patterns can be obscure or absent on adults. It is a
Etymology
In the original description,
Taxonomy and phylogenetics
The Florida cottonmouth is one of eight species in the genus
The Florida cottonmouth was first described as a subspecies, Agkistrodon piscivorus conanti, as recently as 1969. The
Description
Adults of A. p. conanti grow up to 1,892 mm (74.5 inches) in total length (including tail). Allen and Swindell (1948) reported one male specimen from Marion County, Florida that measured 1,829 mm (72 inches) in total length and weighed 4.6 kg (10 pounds).[3]
The color pattern is very similar to that of
The Florida cottonmouth (Agkistrodon conanti) differs from the northern cottonmouth (Agkistrodon piscivorus) in having a pair of dark vertical lines at the tip of the snout (running down the seams of the
The cottonmouths differs from all other members of the genus
Distribution
Agkistrodon conanti is found in the southeast of the United States, throughout the
Sources vary on the exact areas and extent of the zone of integration between A. conanti and A. piscivorus. Earlier subspecies accounts all mapped different and various regions of integration.
Ecology and natural history
Habitat
According to Wright and Bishop (1915), in the Okefenokee Swamp A. conanti occurs in thickets along the edges of the cypress ponds of the islands, around the wooded edges of stretches of water, in areas where the woods of the islands meet pine woods, and throughout the swamp in general.[3]
In the Everglades, Allen and Swindell (1948) mentioned that it can be found in palmetto clumps as much as a quarter mile from water. Otherwise these snakes tend to aggregate around drying water holes, most likely because of the increasing concentration of available prey. Duellman and Schwartz (1958) described the species as inhabiting aquatic environments, cypress flats and wet prairies, but not pine forests, scrub or hammocks. The latter is contradicted by a report from northern Florida where large numbers were seen in wet pine-palmetto areas, except during very dry periods.[3]
Reproduction
Agkistrodon conanti is ovoviviparous, and while there is no specific mating season, most births occur during the summer months. Females generally only breed every other year and give birth to between one and 15 young per litter. The average total length of each newly born snake is 18 cm (7.1 in).
Colloquialisms and folklore
Colloquial names for the Florida cottonmouth include aquatic copperhead, aquatic moccasin, cotton-mouthed snake, gaper, gapper, lake moccasin, mangrove rattler, moccasin viper, North American water viper, pond moccasin, river pit viper, short-tailed moccasin, small-tailed rattler, snap jaw, stub-tail moccasin, swamp lion, swamp moccasin, trap jaw, water mamba, water moccasin, water pilot, water pit moccasin, water rattlesnake, white mouth moccasin, and worm-tailed moccasin.[17]
Gallery
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Florida cottonmouth (Agkistrodon conanti) at the Cincinnati Zoo
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Florida cottonmouth (A. conanti) from Alachua County, Florida (23 March 2011)
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Typical defensive display of a Florida cottonmouth (A. conanti) from north-central Florida (9 April 2011)
References
- ISBN 1-893777-01-4(volume).
- ^ ISBN 0-8018-9875-7
- ^ ISBN 0-916984-20-6
- ^ ISBN 0-8014-4141-2
- ^ ISBN 978-0-544-12997-9
- ^ ISBN 978-1-946681-00-3
- ^ a b c d Gloyd HK (1969). "Two additional subspecies of North American crotalid snakes, genus Agkistrodon ". Proceedings of the Biological Society of Washington 82: 219-232 .
- ^ Conant R (1969). "A Review of the Water Snakes of the Genus Natrix in Mexico". Bulletin of the American Museum of Natural History 142: 1-140.
- ^ Conant R (1984). "A new subspecies of the pit viper Agkistrodon bilineatus (Reptilia: Viperidae) from Central America". Proceedings of the Biological Society of Washington 97: 135-141.
- ISBN 978-1-4214-0135-5. (Agkistrodon piscivorus conanti, p. 57).
- ^ Parkinson CL, Zamudio KR, Greene HW (2000). "Phylogeography of the pitviper clade Agkistrodon: historical ecology, species status and conservation of cantils". Molecular Ecology 9: 411-420.
- ^ a b c d Burbrink FT, Guiher TJ (2015). "Considering gene flow when using coalescent methods to delimit lineages of North American pitvipers of the genus Agkistrodon ". Zoological Journal of the Linnean Society 173: 505–526
- ^ Guiher TJ, Burbrink FT (2008). "Demographic and phylogeographic histories of two venomous North American snakes of the genus Agkistrodon ". Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution 48: 543–553.
- ^ Uetz P, Freed P, Aguilar R, Hošek J (editors) (2021). The Reptile Database, Agkistrodon conanti Gloyd, 1969 (accessed 6 August 2021)
- ISBN 0-8069-6460-X.
- ^ Conant R, Collins JT (1998). A Field Guide to Reptiles and Amphibians, Eastern and Central North America, Third Edition, Expanded. Peterson Field Guide Series. Boston: Houghton Mifflin Co. xviii + 616 pp. ISBN 0-395-90452-8
- ^ 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 two volumes). ("Cottonmouth, Other common names", p. 916).
Further reading
- Allen ER, Swindell D (1948). "The cottonmouth moccasin of Florida". Herpetologica 4 (Supplement 1): 1-16.
- Duellman WE, Schwartz A (1958). "Amphibians and Reptiles of Southern Florida". Bulletin of the Florida State Museum 3: 181-324.
- Gloyd HK (1969). "Two additional subspecies of North American crotalid snakes, genus Agkistrodon ". Proceedings of the Biological Society of Washington 82: 219-232. (Agkistrodon piscivorus conanti, new subspecies, p. 226).
- Wright AH, Bishop SC (1915). "A biological reconnaissance of the Okefinokee Swamp in Georgia. 2. Snakes". Proceedings of the Academy of Natural Sciences of Philadelphia 67: 139-192.
External links
- Agkistrodon piscivorus at the Reptarium.cz Reptile Database. Accessed 1 December 2007.
- Florida Cottonmouth at Central Florida Zoo. Accessed 9 April 2010.
- Florida Cottonmouth at Calusa Nature. Accessed 2 December 2007.
- A. p. conanti at Florida Museum of Natural History. Accessed 1 January 2008.
- https://web.archive.org/web/20160608141016/http://www.arkive.org/cottonmouth/agkistrodon-piscivorus/