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Mud snake

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Mud snake
Western mud snake, Farancia abacura reinwardtii, in Illinois
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Reptilia
Order: Squamata
Suborder: Serpentes
Family: Colubridae
Genus: Farancia
Species:
F. abacura
Binomial name
Farancia abacura
(Holbrook, 1836)
Synonyms

The mud snake (Farancia abacura) is a species of nonvenomous, semiaquatic, colubrid snake endemic to the southeastern United States.[2]

Eastern mud snake, Pasco County, Florida 2011
Venter
Anerythristic eastern mud snake, Florida

Description

Mud snakes usually grow to a total length (including the tail) of 40 to 54 inches (1-1.4 m),[3] with the record total length being slightly over 80 inches (2 m).[4]

The upperside of the mud snake is glossy and black. The underside is red and black, and the red extends up the sides to form bars of reddish-pink.

Their heavy bodies are cylindrical in cross section, and their short tails have a terminal spine.

Their head scalation is distinctive in that they have only one internasal scale, no preocular scale, and one anterior temporal scale. The dorsal scales are smooth, and are arranged in 19 rows at midbody. There are 168-208 ventral scales and 31-55 subcaudal scales. The anal plate is divided.[5]

Habitat

Mud snakes inhabit the edges of streams and cypress swamps, among dense vegetation or under ground debris. They are almost fully aquatic and rarely leave the water, except to lay eggs, hibernate, or during drought to escape drying wetlands.[6][7]

Behavior

Mud snakes are mostly aquatic and nocturnal. They prey mostly on giant aquatic salamanders in the genera Siren and Amphiuma, but they also eat other amphibians.[8] They are known to use their sharply pointed tails to prod prey items, leading to the nickname "stinging snake", although their tails contain no sting.

Reproduction

Breeding takes place in the spring, mostly in the months of April and May. Eight weeks after mating, the female lays 4 to 111[9] eggs in a nest dug out of moist soil, sometimes in alligator nests[10]. She will remain with her eggs until they hatch,[11] in the fall, usually September or October. Although unhatched eggs have not been found in the winter or spring, many juvenile mudsnakes are captured entering wetlands in the spring, most likely from clutches deposited and hatched in the preceding late summer or autumn. It is thought that mudsnake hatchlings either enter aquatic habitats in the autumn or delay entering them until the spring, but it is not known if they remain in a terrestrial nest or disperse into terrestrial habitats during this time.[12]

Geographic range

The mud snake is found in the southeastern United States, in the states of Alabama, Arkansas, Florida, Georgia, Illinois, Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi, Missouri, North Carolina, Oklahoma, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas, and Virginia.[2]

Cultural significance

The mud snake is one of a few animals which may be the origin of the hoop snake myth. J.D. Willson writes:

Mud snakes are sometimes known as “hoop snakes” because of the myth that they will bite their own tail and roll after people.[2]

The hoop snake myth has also been attributed to the coachwhip snake.

Subspecies

There are two recognized subspecies of Farancia abacura, including the nominotypical subspecies:

References

  1. ^ Boulenger, G.A. 1894. Catalogue of the Snakes in the British Museum (Natural History). Volume II., Containing the Conclusion of the Colubridæ Aglyphæ. Trustees of the British Museum (Natural History). (Taylor and Francis, Printers.) London. xi + 382 pp. + Plates I.-XX. (Farancia abacura, pp. 291-292.)
  2. ^ a b c Willson, J.D. 2006. Mud Snake (Farancia abacura) Savannah River Ecology Laboratory. Accessed April 23, 2011.
  3. ^ Missouri Department of Conservation. 2013. Western Mud Snake MDC Online. Accessed May 18, 2013
  4. ^ The University of Georgia. 2008. Mud Snake The University of Georgia: Museum of Natural History. Accessed April 23, 2011.
  5. ^ 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. (Farancia abacura, pp. 162-163.)
  6. ^ Steen, DA; Stevenson, DJ; Beane, JC; Willson, JD; Aresco, MJ; Godwin, J; Graham, SP; Smith, L; Howze, J; Rudolph, DC; Pierce, J; Lee, J; Gregory, B; Jensen, J; Stiles, S; Stiles, J; Nazdrowicz; Guyer, C (2013). "Terrestrial movements of the Red-bellied Mudsnake (Farancia abacura) and Rainbow Snake (F. erytrogramma)" (PDF). Herpetological Review. 44: 208–213.
  7. ^ Willson, JD; Winne, CT; Dorcas, ME; Gibbons, JW (2006). "Post-drought responses of semi-aquatic snakes inhabiting an isolated wetland: insights on different strategies for persistence in a dynamic habitat" (PDF). Wetlands. 26: 1071–1078.
  8. ^ Durso, AM; Willson, JD; Winne, CT (2013). "Habitat influences diet overlap in aquatic snake assemblages" (PDF). Journal of Zoology (London). 291: 185–193.
  9. ^ Powell, CD; Stevenson, DJ; Smith, M; Jensen, JB (2010). "A new clutch size record for the Mud Snake (Farancia abacura)". Southeastern Naturalist. 9: 177–178.
  10. ^ Hall, PM; Meier, AJ (1993). "Reproduction and behavior of western mud snakes (Farancia abacura reinwardtii) in American alligator nests". Copeia. 1993: 219–222.
  11. ^ Goin, C.J.; O.B. Goin; G.R. Zug. 1978. Introduction to Herpetology, Third Edition. W.H. Freeman. San Francisco. xi + 378 pp. ISBN 0-7167-0020-4. ("Parental Care", Farancia abacura, p. 121.)
  12. ^ Semlitsch, RD; Pechmann, JHK; Gibbons, JW (1988). "Annual emergence of juvenile mud snakes (Farancia abacura) at aquatic habitats". Copeia. 1988: 243–245.

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 0-395-19979-4 (hardcover), ISBN 0-395-19977-8 (paperback). (Farancia abacura, pp. 176–177 + Plate 25 + Map 138.)
  • 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 E. Malnate.) D. Appleton-Century. New York and London. Frontispiece map + viii + 163 pp. + Plates A-C, 1-32. (Farancia abacura, pp. 33–36 + Plate 3, Figure 7.)
  • Goldstein, R.C. 1941. Notes on the Mud Snake in Florida. Copeia 1941 (1): 49-50.
  • Holbrook, J.E. 1836. North American Herpetology; or, A Description of the Reptiles Inhabiting the United States. Vol. I. J.Dobson. Philadelphia. 120 pp. (Coluber abacurus, pp. 119–120.)
  • Meade, G.P. 1937. Breeding Habits of Farancia abacura in Captivity. Copeia 1937 (1): 12-15.
  • 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. Ronald Press. New York. viii + 185 pp. ("The Mud Snake", Farancia abacura, pp. 87–88, 179.)
  • Schlegel, H. 1837. Essai sur la physionomie des serpens. M.H. Schonekat. Amsterdam. Partie Générale. xxviii + 251 pp. (Homalopsis reinwardtii, p. 173.) AND Partie Descriptive. 606 + xvi pp. (Homalopsis reinwardtii, pp. 357–358.)
  • 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. (Farancia abacura, pp. 106–108, Figure 22. + Plate 9.)
  • Wright, A.H., and A.A. Wright. 1957. Handbook of Snakes of the United States and Canada. Comstock. Ithaca and London. 1,105 pp. (in 2 volumes) (Farancia abacura, pp. 271–280, Figures 84-85., Map 25.)
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