Nerodia erythrogaster

plain-bellied water snake
plain-bellied water snake Nerodia erythrogaster
Conservation status
Least Concern (IUCN 3.1)
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Chordata
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

The plain-bellied water snake or plainbelly water snake (Nerodia erythrogaster) is a common species of mostly aquatic, nonvenomous, colubrid snake found in the United States.

Range and habitat

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. They are almost always found near a permanent water source, a lake, stream, pond or other slow moving body.

Description

Adults are 24-40 inches (76-122 cm) long. It gets its common name because it has no patterning on its underside. Species can vary in color from brown, to grey, to olive green, with dark colored blotching down their back, and an underside that is yellow, brown, red or green. It is quick to vigorously defend itself by biting repeatedly and its mouth has a white interior, resulting in it being misidentified frequently as the venomous cottonmouth.

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.

Subspecies

There are six recognized subspecies of N. erythrogaster:

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

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