The brown water snake (''Nerodia taxispilota'') is a large species of nonvenomous natricine snake endemic to the southeastern United States. This snake is often one of the most abundant species of snakes found in rivers and streams of the southeastern United States, yet many aspects of its natural history is poorly known. Due to abundance and distribution throughout its biological range, this species could be used to investigate anthropogenic impacts on aquatic ecosystems by studying their movements. ''

Lycodonomorphus rufulus ''Lycodonomorphus'' is a genus of snakes commonly referred to as African water snakes. They are small, nonvenomous snakes, with all members being endemic to Africa, especially Tanzania. Species The following nine species are recognized as being ...

'' is sometimes also called the brown water snake, but ''L. rufulus'' is found in South Africa.

Common names

Its common names include brown water snake, water-pilot, aspic, false moccasin, great water snake, pied water snake, southern water snake, and water rattle. Wright, A.H., and A.A. Wright (1957). ''Handbook of Snakes of the United States and Canada''. Ithaca and London: Comstock Publishing Assosciates, a division of Cornell University Press. 1,105 pp. (in 2 volumes) (''Natrix taxispilota'', pp. 544-547, Figure 162, Map 41).

Geographic range

''N. taxispilota'' is found in lower coastal regions from southeastern Virginia, through North Carolina, South Carolina, and Georgia, to northern and western Florida ( Gulf Coast), then west through Missouri, Alabama, and Mississippi, to Louisiana, normally from sea level to 500 ft. (150 m) elevation.

Description

The brown water snake is very heavy-bodied, and its neck is distinctly narrower than its head. Dorsally, it is brown or rusty brown with a row of about 25 black or dark brown, square blotches down its back. Smaller similar blotches alternate on the sides. Ventrally, it is yellow, heavily marked with black or dark brown. Dorsal scales are in 27-33 rows (more than any other North American water snake), and it has two to four anterior temporals (usually one in others). Adults measure 30–60 in. (76–152 cm) in total length; record 69 in. (175 cm). Conant, Roger (1975). ''A Field Guide to Reptiles and Amphibians of Eastern and Central North America, Second Edition''. Boston: Houghton Mifflin. 429 pp. (hardcover), (paperback) (''Natrix taxispilota'', p. 141 + Plate 21 + Map 107).

Habitat

''N. taxispilota'' is found in

swamp A swamp is a forested wetland.Keddy, P.A. 2010. Wetland Ecology: Principles and Conservation (2nd edition). Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, UK. 497 p. Swamps are considered to be transition zones because both land and water play a role in ...

s and

stream A stream is a continuous body of water, body of surface water Current (stream), flowing within the stream bed, bed and bank (geography), banks of a channel (geography), channel. Depending on its location or certain characteristics, a stream ...

s and is often mistaken for a moccasin.

Reproduction

''N. taxispilota'' is ovoviviparous. Mating takes place in the spring on land or on tree branches. On average, adult females are larger than adult males. The young are born alive, usually in August, in broods of 14–58, more commonly 30–40. The newborns are 7-10¾ in (18–27 cm) long, with males longer than females, opposite of adults. Brown water snake (Nerodia taxispilota) Central Florida

Brown water snake (Nerodia taxispilota) Central Florida

References

* Conant, R., and W. Bridges (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 taxispilota'', pp. 106–107 + Plate 20, Figure 58). *Morris, P.A. (1948). ''Boy's Book of Snakes: How to Recognize and Understand Them''. A volume of the Humanizing Science Series, edited by

Jacques Cattell Jaques (Jack) Cattell (2 June 1904 in Garrison, New York – 19 December 1961) was an American publisher and founder of a company bearing his name, "Jaques Cattell Press, Inc.," based in Lancaster, Pennsylvania. Jaques Cattell Press, Inc. The Sci ...

. New York: Ronald Press. viii + 185 pp. ("The Brown Water Snake", pp. 84–85, 180). * Powell, R., R. Conant, and J.T. Collins (2016). ''Peterson Field Guide to Reptiles and Amphibians of Eastern and Central North America, Fourth Edition''. Boston and New York: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt. xiv + 494 pp., 47 plates, 207 figures. . (''Nerodia taxispilota'', pp. 420–422, Figure 191 + Plate 41). * Holbrook, J.E. (1842). ''North American Herpetology; or, a Description of the Reptiles Inhabiting the United States, Vol. IV''. Philadelphia: J. Dobson. 138 pp. (''Tropidonotus taxispilotus'', new species, pp. 35–36 & Plate VIII).

External links

Savannah River Ecology Laboratory, Herpetology Program. "Featured Herp: Brown Water Snake (''Nerodia taxispilota'')"
{{Taxonbar, from=Q900792 Nerodia Extant Pleistocene first appearances Reptiles described in 1842 Fauna of the Southeastern United States Reptiles of the United States Taxa named by John Edwards Holbrook