Nerodia erythrogaster

Nerodia erythrogaster
plain-bellied water snake Nerodia erythrogaster
Conservation status
Least Concern (IUCN 3.1)
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Chordata
Subphylum:	Vertebrata
Class:	Reptilia
Order:	Squamata
Suborder:	Serpentes
Family:	Colubridae
Subfamily:	Natricinae
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

File:Copper-bellied Water Snake (Nerodia erythrogaster).ogv

video of Copper-bellied Water Snake, filmed in Muscatatuck National Wildlife Refuge, Indiana, USA

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 flatling 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.

Subspecies

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

• Nerodia erythrogaster alta (Conant, 1963) - plainbelly water snake
• Nerodia erythrogaster bogerti (Conant, 1953) - Bogert's water snake
• Nerodia erythrogaster erythrogaster (Forster, 1771) - redbelly water snake
• Nerodia erythrogaster flavigaster (Conant, 1949) - yellowbelly water snake
• Nerodia erythrogaster neglecta (Conant, 1949) - copperbelly water snake
• Nerodia erythrogaster transversa (Hallowell, 1852) - blotched water snake

References

• Plainbelly Watersnake - Nerodia erythrogaster Species account from the Iowa Reptile and Amphibian Field Guide
• Animal Diversity Web: Nerodia erythrogaster
• Georgia Wildlife: Nerodia erythrogaster
• North Carolina Herps: Nerodia erythrogaster
• Battle with Huge Catfish

Original publication

• Forster, J.R. 1771. in Bossu, J.-B. 1771. Travels through that Part of North America Formerly Called Louisiana. Translated by John [sic] Reinhold Forster, F.A.S. ...with Notes Relative Chiefly to Natural History...by the Translator...Vol. I. T. Davies. London. viii + 407 pp. (Coluber erythrogaster, p. 364.)

Further reading

• Conant, R. 1975. A Field Guide to Reptiles and Amphibians of Eastern and Central North America, Second Edition. Houghton Mifflin. Boston. xviii + 429 pp. ISBN 0-395-19977-8 (paperback). (Natrix erythrogaster, pp. 142–144 + Plate 20 + Map 103.)
• Schmidt, K.P., and D.D. Davis. 1941. Field Book of Snakes of the United States and Canada. G.P. Putnam's Sons. New York. 365 pp. (Natrix erythrogaster, pp. 224–225.)
• Smith, H.M., and E.D. Brodie, Jr. 1982. Reptiles of North America: A Guide to Field Identification. Golden Press. New York. 240 pp. ISBN 0-307-13666-3 (paperback). (Nerodia erythrogaster, pp. 154–155.)
• Wright, A.H., and A.A. Wright. 1957. Handbook of Snakes of the United States and Canada. Comstock. Ithaca and London. 1,050 pp. (in 2 volumes) (Natrix erythrogaster, pp. 477–490, Figures 141.-143., Map 39.)