Seminatrix pygaea (COPE, 1871)
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Seminatrix pygaea
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| Higher Taxa | Colubridae (Natricinae), Colubroidea, Caenophidia, Alethinophidia, Serpentes, Squamata (snakes) |
| Subspecies | Seminatrix pygaea cyclas DOWLING 1950 Seminatrix pygaea paludis DOWLING 1950 Seminatrix pygaea pygaea (COPE 1871) |
| Common Names | E: Black Swamp Snake cyclas: South Florida Swamp Snake paludis: Carolina Swamp Snake pygaea: North Florida Swamp Snake |
| Synonym | Contia pygaea COPE 1871: 223 Contia pygaea — GARMAN 1884: 93 Tropidonotus pygaeus — BOULENGER 1893: 228 Seminatrix pygaea — COPE 1895: 678 Contia pygaea — LOENNBERG 1894 Seminatrix pygaea — COPE 1900: 998 Seminatrix pygaea — DOWLING 1950 Seminatrix pygaea — CONANT & COLLINS 1991: 160 Seminatrix pygaea — ERNST & ERNST 2003: 314 Seminatrix pygaea — CROTHER et al. 2012 Liodytes pygaea — MCVAY & CARSTENS 2013 Seminatrix pygaea — WALLACH et al. 2014: 665 Seminatrix pygaea — NUÑEZ et al. 2023 Seminatrix pygaea cyclas (DOWLING 1950) Seminatrix pygaea cyclas — CROTHER 2000 Seminatrix pygaea cyclas — TENNANT & BARTLETT 2000: 162 Seminatrix pygaea cyclas — CROTHER et al. 2012 Seminatrix pygaea cyclas — NUÑEZ et al. 2023 (by implication) Seminatrix pygaea paludis DOWLING 1950 Seminatrix pygaea paludis — PALMER & BRASWELL 1995 Seminatrix pygaea paludis — CROTHER 2000 Seminatrix pygaea paludis — TENNANT & BARTLETT 2000: 163 Seminatrix pygaea paludis — CROTHER et al. 2012 Seminatrix pygaea paludis — NUÑEZ et al. 2023 (by implication) Seminatrix pygaea pygaea (COPE 1871) Contia pygaea COPE 1871: 223 Seminatrix pygaea pygaea — MEHRTENS 1987: 167 Seminatrix pygaea pygaea — CROTHER 2000 Seminatrix pygaea pygaea — TENNANT & BARTLETT 2000: 161 Seminatrix pygaea pygaea — CROTHER et al. 2012 Liodytes pygaea pygaea — GUYER et al. 2018 Seminatrix pygaea pygaea — NUÑEZ et al. 2023 (by implication) |
| Distribution | USA (Florida, SE Alabama, S/E Georgia, South Carolina, E North Carolina) cyclas: USA (Florida); type locality: Indian Prairie, 2-8 miles NE of Lakeport, Glades County, Florida. paludis: USA (North Carolina, South Carolina, Georgia); Type locality: Camp Davis, Near hollyridge, Onslow County, North Carolina. pygaea: USA (Florida, S Georgia); Type locality: Volusia [county], Florida |
| Reproduction | ovovivparous |
| Types | Holotype: ANSP 3533 Holotype: UMMZ 91457 [paludis] Holotype: UMMZ 96301 [cyclas] |
| Diagnosis | Diagnosis (genus Seminatrix): “Size : small (maximum length, ca. 425 mm.) with a moderately slender body and a short tail (15 to 25 per cent of total length). Head only slightly distinct from body ; eyes medium, about the same size as distance between anterior margin of eye to nostril. Coloration : black dorsally with faint pale lines running through the center of three to five lateral scale rows. Ventral metallic red (7i)3 with the dorsal color extending on the anterior edges for about one-third of the width; labials grayish olive (21" "r). Normal colubrid scutellation: a rounded rostral, two internasals, two prefrontals, a frontal, two supraoculars, two parietals. Nasal single, nostril near upper margin with a suture extending from it to labial border. Loreal present. Oculars usually 1+2. Temporals usually 1+2 or 1 + 1. Upper labials, usually 8; lower labials, usually 9. Two pairs of chin shields, subequal in length. Dorsals smooth, rounded, and without apical pits, lower rows widest, decreasing in width dorsally; scale formula usually 17-17-(-4/-4)-15. Ventrals 112 to 134; anal plate usually divided; caudals paired, 35 to 45 (M = ca. 41) in females, 46 to 56 (M = ca. 51) in males. Dentition complete, maxillary teeth 19 to 21, increasing slightly in length posteriorly; pterygoid teeth 17 to 18, decreasing posteriorly; palatine teeth 10 to 12, subequal; dentary teeth 20 to 23, subequal. Hypapophyses present throughout vertebral column. Hemipenis unforked, spinose, and without papillae; four indistinct groups of enlarged spines near base, two basal hooks laterally ; sulcus spermaticus single, lips not conspicuously raised.” (Dowling 1950) Additional details (745 characters) are available for collaborators and contributors. Please contact us for details. |
| Comment | Type species: Contia pygaea COPE 1871 is the type species of the genus Seminatrix COPE 1895: 678. See diagnosis in DOWLING 1950. Diagnosis (paludis): ventrals over 126 (M ca. 131). |
| Etymology | Named after Latin “pyga”, from Greek “the rump”; apparently after an unusual condition in the holotype which was more compressed than other specimens. “cyclas” form Greek, “garment ornamented with aborder around the bottom” (DOWLING 1950). The genus name Seminatrix, as used by Cope (1895), is a combination of the Latin prefix semi, meaning "half," and nato, meaning "to swim," from which is derived the genitive natrix from natricis, meaning "a water snake," alluding to its postulated relationship to water snakes (Nerodia). The name is of feminine gender (Dorcas et al. 1998). |
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