Nerodia clarkii
Nerodia clarkii | |
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N. clarkii compressicauda, red color phase | |
N. clarkii compressicauda, normal color phase | |
Scientific classification | |
Domain: | Eukaryota |
Kingdom: | Animalia |
Phylum: | Chordata |
Class: | Reptilia |
Order: | Squamata |
Suborder: | Serpentes |
Family: | Colubridae |
Genus: | Nerodia |
Species: | N. clarkii
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Binomial name | |
Nerodia clarkii | |
Nerodia clarkii resides in coastal areas in shaded counties.
Gulf salt marsh snake:
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Synonyms[3] | |
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Nerodia clarkii, commonly known as the salt marsh snake, is a
Etymology
The specific name, clarkii, is in honor of American surveyor and naturalist John Henry Clark (1830–1885).[5]
Description and subspecies
General description
Salt marsh snakes grow to a total length (including tail) of 15–30 inches (38–76 cm). They are also highly variable in both pattern and coloration. Found most commonly in salt marshes, this snake inhabits brackish and saltwater habitats; it is also found hiding in crab burrows.[6] Though salt marsh snakes are common throughout the territory they inhabit, they have a tendency to be wary and secretive, so they are rarely seen.[7] All members of this species reproduce via live birth, and all are semi-aquatic. Furthermore, all forms of this species may be distinguished as having either 21 or 23 rows of scales.[8]
The seawater they inhabit exerts a continual draw on their tissue's electrolyte balance, due to osmosis. Its scaly reptilian skin acts as a barrier against external dehydration, but, if ingested, seawater draws the less-salty fluid from blood and tissues into the stomach. N. clarkii is the only species to establish itself in this saline niche, drinking only rainwater when it is available, and at other times swallowing nothing but prey animals with the same diluted body fluids as their own.[8] All water species of snake (including N. clarkii) are typically considered to be non-venomous, though they do employ a complex series of enzymes in their saliva, resulting in some inflammation and edema to those who have been bitten.[7]
Subspecies
The salt marsh snake has three distinct subspecies, all of which were first discovered and classified in the mid to late 1800s. They are as follows:
Gulf salt marsh snake (N. c. clarkii)
This is perhaps the most prominent of the three races of N. clarkii, and is certainly the one with the furthest range. Populations of the Gulf salt marsh snake natively range from the vicinity of Corpus Christi, Texas, to the Gulf Hammock region of Florida. They are characterized by their prominent stripes; members of this race can be gray, tan or yellow, but all exhibit four brown to black longitudinal stripes which run from the back of their neck to their tail. The belly is reversed in color from the dorsum, and is reddish with a central light line of cream-colored oval blotches, often flanked by a row of pale spots. The scales are in either 21 or 23 rows, and the anal plate is divided.[8] There is little ontogenetic difference between juvenile to fully adult snakes.[7] Individuals subsist on a diet of primarily fish, and especially shallows-living species such as killifish and small mullet, as well as crayfish and shrimp.[8] Members of this race are primarily nocturnal during hot summer nights, but may be found basking and foraging during daylight hours in cool weather.[7] Sexual maturity is reached at three years.[9]
Mangrove salt marsh snake (N. c. compressicauda)
The mangrove salt marsh snake's native range of populations is in
Atlantic salt marsh snake (N. c. taeniata)
A third subspecies, the Atlantic salt marsh snake (N. c. taeniata), in its pure form is restricted to a small stretch of coastline in
Taxonomy
Some sources consider the three races of N. clarkii to be subspecies of the southern water snake,
Subspecies
The following three
- Nerodia clarkii clarkii (Baird & Girard, 1853) – Gulf salt marsh snake
- Nerodia clarkii compressicauda (Kennicott, 1860) – mangrove salt marsh snake
- Nerodia clarkii taeniata (Cope, 1895) – Atlantic salt marsh snake
References
- from the original on 24 December 2017. Retrieved 23 December 2017.
- ^ a b "Nerodia clarkii". NatureServe Network Biodiversity Location Data accessed through NatureServe Explorer. Arlington, Virginia: NatureServe. 7 April 2023. Archived from the original on 8 April 2023. Retrieved 7 April 2023.
- ^ a b "Nerodia clarkii (BAIRD & GIRARD, 1853)". reptile-database.org.
- ^ "Saltmarsh Watersnake". ufwildlife.ifas.ufl.edu. Retrieved 4 June 2023.
- )
- ^ "Saltmarsh Snake". Florida Snake ID Guide. Archived from the original on 20 March 2023. Retrieved 2 June 2023.
- ^ ISBN 978-0-8130-2636-7.
- ^ ISBN 978-0-87719-291-6.
- ^ "Gulf Salt Marsh Snake (Nerodia clarkii)". tpwd.texas.gov. Archived from the original on 16 April 2023. Retrieved 2 June 2023.
- ^ Pettit, Rebekah (9 August 2018). "Mangrove Saltmarsh Snake Herpetofauna Field Methods". Reptiles Magazine. Archived from the original on 9 February 2023. Retrieved 2 June 2023.
- ^ a b "Atlantic salt marsh snake". Florida Fish And Wildlife Conservation Commission. Archived from the original on 21 May 2023. Retrieved 2 June 2023.
- ^ "Atlantic salt marsh snake (Nerodia clarkii taeniata)". Environmental Conservation Online System. U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service. Archived from the original on 8 April 2023. Retrieved 7 April 2023.
- ^ 42 FR 60743
- ISBN 0-395-19979-4.)
Plates 1-48 N. f. taeniata, p. 148; N. f. compressicauda, pp. 148-149; Plate 21; Map 101)
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- ^ Wright AH; Wright AA (1957). Natrix sipedon clarki, N. s. compressicauda. Ithaca and London: Comstock. pp. 515–522.
1,105 pp. (in 2 volumes) , Figures 151–154; N. f. taeniata, pp. 541–544, Figure 161; Map 40 on p. 491
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Further reading
- Baird, S.F.; Girard, C.F. (1853). Part I.—Serpents. Washington, District of Columbia: Smithsonian Institution.
Regina clarkii, new species, p. 48
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:|work=
ignored (help) - Boulenger, G.A. (1893). Containing the Families ... Colubridæ Aglyphæ, part. Vol. I. Taylor and Francis, printers. London: Trustees of the British Museum (Natural History).
Plates I-XXVIII. (Tropidonotus clarkii, p. 238)
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ignored (help) - Conant, Roger; Bridges, William (1939). What Snake Is That?: A Field Guide to the Snakes of the United States East of the Rocky Mountains. New York and London: D. Appleton-Century Company.
(With 108 drawings by Edmond Malnate); Frontispiece map + viii + 163 pp. + Plates A-c, 1–32. (Natrix sipedon clarkii, pp. 105–106 + Plate 20, Figure 57)
- Cope, E.D. (1895). "On some new North American Snakes". American Naturalist. 29: 676–677.
Natrix compressicauda tæniata, new subspecies
- Kennicott, Robert (1860). "Descriptions of New Species of North American Serpents in the Museum of the Smithsonian Institution". Proceedings of the Academy of Natural Sciences of Philadelphia. 12. Washington: 328–338.
Nerodia compressicauda, new species, pp. 335–336
- )