Mangrove Salt Marsh Snake
(
Nerodia clarkii compressicauda )
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Mangrove Water Snake
Photograph by Ltshears. License: Public Domain. |
Mangrove Salt Marsh Watersnake at Matheson Hammock in Bill Baggs Cape Florida State Park, Miami, Florida.
Photograph by Ryulong. GNU Free Documentation License. |
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REPTILE FACTS
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Description
The Mangrove Salt Marsh Snake is variable in color and pattern and can be gray, brown, olive green, or tan with faint darker banding. Some snakes are almost all black, or solid reddish orange or straw color. There may be dark stripes on the neck. The underside is variable in color - pale gray on gray snakes, faded tan on brown snakes, mostly black on black snakes. Juveniles are similar to adults. The Mangrove Salt Marsh Snake is mainly active at night, but is often seen during the day basking above the water on branches of mangrove trees.
Other Names
Mangrove Water Snake
Size
length 35cm - 70cm. Can grow to 90cm
Environment
brackish and saltwater estuaries, salt marshes, tidal mud flats.
Food
other smaller snakes (including venomous snakes), lizards.
Breeding
It is live-bearing, with litters of up to 22 young. The young are about 18cm - 24cm at birth.
Range
Florida coast from Miami to around Cape Canaveral. It is not found outside Florida.
Notes
The Mangrove Salt Marsh Snake is non-venomous.
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Classification
| Class: | Reptilia | | Order: | Squamata (Serpentes) | | Family: | Colubridae | | Genus: | Nerodia | | Species: | clarkii compressicauda | | Common Name: | Mangrove Salt Marsh Snake |
Relatives in same Genus
Atlantic Salt Marsh Snake (N. clarkii taeniata)
Redbelly Water Snake (N. erythrogaster erythrogaster.)
Banded Water Snake (N. fasciata fasciata)
Florida Banded Water Snake (N. fasciata pictiventris)
Diamondback Water Snake (N. rhombifer)
Northern Water Snake (N. sipedon)
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