Nerodia fasciata (LINNAEUS, 1766)
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Nerodia fasciata
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| Higher Taxa | Colubridae, Natricinae, Serpentes (snakes) |
| Subspecies | Nerodia fasciata confluens (BLANCHARD 1923) Nerodia fasciata fasciata (LINNAEUS 1766) Nerodia fasciata pictiventris (COPE 1895: 677) |
| Common Names | E: Southern Water Snake fasciata: Banded Water Snake, Broad-banded Water Snake confluens: Broad-banded Water Snake pictiventris: Florida Water Snake G: Gebänderte Wassernatter, Südliche Schwimmnatter |
| Synonym | Coluber fasciatus LINNAEUS 1766: 378 Coluber fasciatus — SHAW & NODDER 1797: plate 266 Tropidonotus fasciatus — HOLBROOK 1842: 25 Nerodia fasciata — BAIRD & GIRARD 1853: 39 Tropidonotus fasciatus — DUMÉRIL, BIBRON & DUMÉRIL 1854: 566 Tropidonotus Pogonias — DUMÉRIL & BIBRON 1854: 574 (fide WALLACH p.c.) Tropidonotus bisectus COPE 1887: 146 (fide BOULENGER 1893) Tropidonotus fasciatus — BOULENGER 1893: 242 Natrix fasciata — LOENNBERG 1894 Natrix fasciata confluens BLANCHARD 1923 Natrix fasciata fasciata — ALLEN 1932 Nerodia sipedon fasciata — CLAY 1938: 179 Nerodia fasciata — CONANT 1963 Nerodia fasciata fasciata — CONANT & COLLINS 1991: 153 Nerodia fasciata pictiventris — CONANT & COLLINS 1991: 154 Nerodia fasciata confluens — CONANT & COLLINS 1991: 154 Nerodia fasciata — CROTHER 2000: 67 Nerodia fasciata fasciata — BOUNDY et al. 2012 Nerodia fasciata confluens (BLANCHARD, 1923) Natrix fasciata confluens BLANCHARD 1923 Natrix sipedon confluens — STEJNEGER & BARBOUR 1933: 117 Natrix fasciata confluens — BURT 1935 Natrix sipedon confluens — CLAY 1938: 179 Nerodia fasciata confluens — CROTHER 2000: 67 Nerodia fascita [sic] confluens — MATTISON 2007: 246 Nerodia fasciata confluens — BOUNDY et al. 2012 Nerodia fasciata pictiventris (COPE 1895) Natrix fasciata pictiventris COPE 1895: 677 Natrix sipedon pictiventris — STEJNEGER & BARBOUR 1933: 96 Nerodia fasciata pictiventris — CROTHER 2000: 67 Nerodia fasciata pictiventris — SCHMIDT & KUNZ 2005: 27 Nerodia fasciata pictiventris — WERNING 2007 Nerodia fasciata pictiventris — BOUNDY et al. 2012 |
| Distribution | USA (E Texas, Louisiana, SE Oklahoma, Arkansas, W Mississippi, S Alabama, Florida, S/E Georgia, S/E South Carolina, S/E North Carolina, SE Missouri, Illinois) Type locality: Carolina. confluens: Arkansas, Louisiana, Mississippi, Missouri, E Texas, Oklahoma; Type locality: Butler County, Missouri. pictiventris: Florida, S Texas; Type locality: Gainesville, Florida. Map legend:  - Region according to the TDWG standard, not a precise distribution map.NOTE: TDWG regions are generated automatically from the text in the distribution field and this does not always work properly. We are working on it. |
| Types | |
| Comment | Illustration in Reptilia (Münster) 8 (2): 21. Illustration of N. f. pictiventris in SCHMIDT (2004). Synonymy: BLANEY & BLANEY 1979 suggested that N. fasciata is synonymous with N. sipedon. Habitat: at least partially coastal and thus considered (partially) “marine”. Reproduction: viviparous. Hybridization: Nerodia sipedon and N. fasciata hybridize “massively” in their contact zones, e.g. in the Carolinas and Georgia (Mebert 2008). DIAGNOSIS: This snake may be distinguished from the peninsular N. s. pictiventris, which it resembles rather closely, by the shape of the ventral markings-squarish spots in fasciata, elongate dark areas near the anterior margins of the ventrals in pictiventris-and by the presence generally of more than 128 ventrals in fasciata and fewer than this numberin pictiventris. The dorsal pattern of transversebands throughout the length of the body will usually distinguish fasciata from pleuralis, in which most often the posterior portion of the dorsal pattern is composed of alternating dorsal and lateral spots. Furthermore,the belly of pleuralis is marked with half-circular spots. N. s. confluens and fasciata may be separated on the basis of the number of dorsal saddles, the former having 11 to 17, the latter about 19 to 30 [CLAY 1938: 178]. DIAGNOSIS (confluens): This species is easily recognized by the number of dorsal cross bands, 11 to 17, which is lower than that of any other Americanspecies of Natrix. In most other respects, including scutellation and proportions, it is fairly similar to N. s. fasciata [CLAY 1938: 179]. DIAGNOSIS (pictiventris): The typical dorsal markings of this snake consist of a series of 26 to 35 reddish-brownto black cross bands, but in mature individuals the lateral interspaces sometimes become darker than the lateral portions of the cross-bands and thus produce an appearance of alternating dorsal and lateral spots. For differences between this form and N. s. fasciata, see the latter (p. 179). From N. s. compressicauda it may be distinguished by the absence or poor delineation of a midventral series of light spots [CLAY 1938: 180]. |
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