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Drymarchon couperi (HOLBROOK, 1842)

IUCN Red List - Drymarchon couperi - Least Concern, LC
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Higher TaxaColubridae, Colubrinae, Colubroidea, Caenophidia, Alethinophidia, Serpentes, Squamata (snakes)
Subspecies 
Common NamesE: Eastern Indigo Snake, Gopher Snake, Blue Indigo Snake, Blue Bull Snake
G: Östliche Indigonatter
E: Gulf Coast Indigo Snake [kolpobasileus [kolpobasileus] 
SynonymColuber couperi HOLBROOK 1842: 75
Georgia Couperi — BAIRD & GIRARD 1853: 92 (?)
Spilotes couperii — COPE 1860: 342
Spilotes corais couperii — LÖNNBERG 1894
Compsosoma corais couperii — COPE 1900: 858 (part).
Spilotes corais couperi — BROWN 1901 (part)
Drymarchon corais couperi — AMARAL 1929: 330
Drymarchon corais couperi — SMITH 1941: 479
Drymarchon corais couperi — CONANT & COLLINS 1991: 191
Drymarchon couperi — CROTHER 2000: 61
Drymarchon corais couperi — TENNANT & BARTLETT 2000: 340
Drymarchon couperi — WALLACH et al. 2014: 245
Drymarchon kolpobasileus KRYSKO, GRANATOSKY, NUÑEZ & SMITH 2016
Drymarchon corais couperi — SCHÄBERLE 2018 
DistributionUSA (Georgia, Florida, probably South Carolina)

Type locality: "dry pine hills, south of the Alatamaha" , (Altamaha River, Georgia), restricted to "Wayne County, Georgia" by Schmidt (1953).

kolpobasileus: USA (Florida: Sarasota County, S Alabama, SE Mississippi); Type locality: Mill Terrace and Riverwood Avenue, Sarasota, Sarasota County, Florida, USA (27.29291° N, 82.52453° W, datum WGS84).  
Reproductionoviparous 
TypesHolotype: ANSP 3937
Holotype: UF Herpetology 52751 (Florida Museum of Natural History, University of Florida); collected by Dennis M. Sargent in August 1981 on. Attacked by domestic dog and brought to Sarasota Jungle Gardens where it died. Paratypes. UF Herpetology 55248, collected by T. Rooks on 6 June 1982 on State Road 24, 1.62 km SW State Road 345, Levy County, Florida (29.225295 N, 82.953708 W); UF-Herpetology 78797, collected by Paul Elliot on 15 November 1988 at the entrance of Upper Hillsborough Wildlife Management Area, Pasco County, Florida (28.35634 N, 82.12638 W); and UF-Herpetology 157096, collected by Joseph A. Wasilewski on 26 October 2006 at SW 204 Street and SW 134 Avenue, Miami, Miami-Dade County, Florida (25.57706 N, 80.40912 W) [kolpobasileus] 
DiagnosisDiagnosis: Drymarchon couperi is distinguished by a suite of molecular and morphological features, including relatively longer and deeper head dimensions, longer and shallower th infralabials, and longer temporal scales. Overall, the presence of a longer and shallow th infralabial scale provides the best univariate predictor for this species (Table 3; Fig. 5). Based on both DNA (Krysko et al. 2016) and morphology (specimens examined in this study) this species includes populations from southeastern Georgia southward along the Atlantic coast to central peninsular Florida (Krysko et al. 2016).


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CommentSynonymy: BOULENGER (1894) synonymzied this species with Drymarchon corais. Gulf coast Populations were described as a new species, D. kolpobasileus, as they are genetically (and slightly morphologically) different from D. couperi. However, D. kolpobasileus was synonymized with D. couperi again by Folt et al. 2019 and Guyer et al. 2019.

Distribution: populations on the gulf coast of Florida and west to Mississippi have been assigned to D. kolpobasileus (Krysko et al. 2016). See map in Krysko et al. 2016: 561 (Fig. 7). Presence in South Carolina based on neighboring states; no vouchered specimens are known (Camper 2019). 
EtymologyNamed after James Hamilton Couper who collected (or provided) the type specimen to Holbrook.

D. kolpobasileus was named after the Greek kolpo (meaning Gulf, referring to the Gulf of Mexico) and Greek basileus (meaning King), used to form the composite noun kolpobasileus (Gulf King), which is applied as a noun in apposition to the generic name Drymarchon. When sea levels were lower during the Pleistocene, D. kolpobasileus sp. nov. was the largest known snake inhabiting the subaerially exposed Florida Platform that extended much further westward than today. This species is still the largest native snake and king of the remaining exposed Florida Platform in the western peninsula and panhandle of Florida. 
References
  • Amaral, A. do 1929. Estudos sobre ofídios neotrópicos. XXI. Revisão do gênero Drymarchon Fitzinger. Memórias do Instituto Butantan 4: 323-330 - get paper here
  • Andreadis, P T; Bartoszek, I A; Prokop-Ervin, C & Pittman, S 2018. Drymarchon kolpobasileus (Gulf Coast Indigo Snake) and Python bivittatus (Burmese Python) Predator-Prey interaction. Herpetological Review 49 (2): 341-342 - get paper here
  • Baird, S. F. and C. Girard. 1853. Catalogue of North American Reptiles in the Museum of the Smithsonian Institution. Part 1.-Serpents. Smithsonian Inst., Washington, xvi + 172 pp. - get paper here
  • Bauder, J. M., Breininger, D. R., Bolt, M. R., Legare, M. L., Jenkins, C. L., Rothermel, B. B. and McGarigal, K. 2020. Movement barriers, habitat heterogeneity or both? Testing hypothesized effects of landscape features on home range sizes in eastern indigo snakes. Journal of Zoology - get paper here
  • Bauder, J. M., Macey, J. N., Wallace, M. P., Snow, F., Safer, A. B. & Stevenson, D. J. 2012. Drymarchon couperi (eastern indigo snake) juvenile observations. Herpetological Review 43: 343 - get paper here
  • Bauder, Javan M. and Patrick Barnhart. 2014. Factors affecting the accuracy and precision of triangulated radio telemetry location of eastern indigo snakes (Drymarchon couperi). Herpetological Review 45 (4): 590-597 - get paper here
  • Bauder, Javan M., David R. Breininger, M. Rebecca Bolt, Michael L. Legare, Christopher L. Jenkins, Betsie B. Rothermel and Kevin McGarigal. 2016. Seasonal Variation in Eastern Indigo Snake (Drymarchon couperi) Movement Patterns and Space Use in Peninsular Florida at Multiple Temporal Scales. Herpetologica 72 (3): 214-226 - get paper here
  • Bauder, Javan M.; Dirk J. Stevenson, Christopher S. Sutherland and Christopher L. Jenkins 2017. Occupancy of Potential Overwintering Habitat on Protected Lands by Two Imperiled Snake Species in the Coastal Plain of the Southeastern United States. Journal of Herpetology 51 (1): 73–88 - get paper here
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  • BOGAN JR., JAMES E.; DAVID A. STEEN, BRADLEY O’HANLON, MICHAEL M. GARNER, HEATHER D. S. WALDEN & JAMES F. X. WELLEHAN, JR. 2022. DRYMARCHON COUPERI (Eastern Indigo Snake). DEATH ASSOCIATED WITH RAILLIETIELLA ORIENTALIS. Herpetological Review 53 (1): 147.
  • BOGAN JR., JAMES E.; MICHELLE HOFFMAN, FALICIA DICKERSON & FREDERICK B. ANTONIO 2021. A retrospective study of dystocia in eastern indigo snakes (Drymarchon couperi),. Journal of Zoo and Wildlife Medicine 52(2): 618-627. - get paper here
  • Boulenger, George A. 1894. Catalogue of the snakes in the British Museum (Natural History). Volume II., Containing the Conclusion of the Colubridæ Aglyphæ. British Mus. (Nat. Hist.), London, xi, 382 pp. - get paper here
  • Breininger, David R.; M. Rebecca Bolt, Michael L. Legare, John H. Drese, and Eric D. Stolen 2011. Factors Influencing Home-Range Sizes of Eastern Indigo Snakes in Central Florida. Journal of Herpetology 45 (4): 484-490. - get paper here
  • Camper, Jeffrey D. 2019. The Reptiles of South Carolina. University of South Carolina Press, 288 pp. [review in Copeia 107 (3): 590, 2019] - get paper here
  • Chandler, Houston C.; David Steen, Jack Blue, James E. Bogan, M. Rebecca Bolt, Tony Brady, David R. Breininger, Jorge Buening, Matt Elliott, James Godwin, Craig Guyer, Robert L. Hill, Michelle Hoffman, Natalie L. Hyslop, Christopher L. Jenkins, Chris 2024. Evaluating Growth Rates of Captive, Wild, and Reintroduced Populations of the Imperiled Eastern Indigo Snake (Drymarchon couperi) Herpetologica Dec 2023 Vol. 79, No. 4: 220-230 - get paper here
  • Conant,R. & Collins,J.T. 1991. A Field Guide to Reptiles and Amphibians of Eastern/Central North America, 3rd ed. Houghton Mifflin (Boston/New York), xx + 450 p.
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  • Deitloff, Jennifer; Erin Myers, Stephen Spear, Dirk Stevenson & Craig Guyer 2019. Multiple Paternity and Heritability of Color in Drymarchon couperi (Eastern Indigo Snakes). Herpetologica 75 (3): 224-232 - get paper here
  • Deitloff, Jennifer; Valerie M. Johnson, Craig Guyer 2013. Bold Colors in a Cryptic Lineage: Do Eastern Indigo Snakes Exhibit Color Dimorphism? PLoS One 8(5): e64538. - get paper here
  • Enge, K M; Tornwall, B; Kruger, W & Dews, R E; 2018. Drymarchon couperi (Eastern Indigo Snake) Mortality/entanglment in plastic mesh. Herpetological Review 49 (4): 751-752 - get paper here
  • Enge, Kevin M. 2009. Venomous and non-venomous snakes of Florida. Publication of the Florida Fish & Wildlife Conservation Commission. 16 pp.
  • Folt B, Bauder J, Spear S, Stevenson D, Hoffman M, Oaks JR, et al. 2019. Taxonomic and conservation implications of population genetic admixture, mito-nuclear discordance, and male- biased dispersal of a large endangered snake, Drymarchon couperi. PLoS ONE 14(3): e0214439 - get paper here
  • Garman, Samuel 1884. The reptiles and batrachians of North America. Mem. Mus. comp. Zool, Cambridge (Massachusetts), 8 (3): xxxiv + 185 pp. [1883] [CNAH reprint 10] - get paper here
  • Godley, J. Steve. 2015. Drymarchon couperi (eastern indigo snake) historical relative abundance. Herpetological Review 46 (3): 447 - get paper here
  • Goetz, Scott M.; James C. Godwin, Michelle Hoffman, Fred Antonio, and David A. Steen 2018. Eastern Indigo Snakes Exhibit an Innate Response to Pit Viper Scent and an Ontogenetic Shift in Their Response to Mouse Scent. Herpetologica 74 (2): 152-158. - get paper here
  • GUYER, CRAIG; BRIAN FOLT, MICHELLE HOFFMAN, DIRK STEVENSON, SCOTT M. GOETZ, MELISSA A. MILLER, JAMES C. GODWIN 2019. Patterns of head shape and scutellation in Drymarchon couperi (Squamata: Colubridae) reveal a single species. Zootaxa 4695 (2): 168–174 - get paper here
  • Holbrook, John E. 1838. North American Herpetology, Vol. 3 (1st ed.). J. Dobson, Philadelphia, 122 pp. - get paper here
  • Hyslop, N.L., R.J. Cooper & J.M. Meyers 2009. Seasonal shifts in shelter and microhabitat use of the threatened Eastern Indigo Snake (Drymarchon couperi) in Georgia Copeia 2009 (3): 458-464. - get paper here
  • Hyslop, Natalie L.; J Michael Meyers, Robert J. Cooper, and Terry M. Norton 2009. Survival of radio-implanted Drymarchon couperi (Eastern Indigo Snake) in relation to body size and sex. Herpetologica 65 (2): 199-206 - get paper here
  • JACKSON, PEYTON; JAMES BOGAN, ELLEN DIERENFELD & ZACHARY LOUGHMAN. 2022. Assessing the Effect of Diet on Reproductive Output, Nutritional and Health Status in Eastern Indigo Snakes (Drymarchon couperi). Proceedings of the West Virginia Academy of Science 94(1) - get paper here
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