Crayfish snake

The crayfish snake (Liodytes rigida),[2] also known commonly as the glossy crayfish snake, the glossy swampsnake, the glossy water snake, and the striped water snake, is a species of semiaquatic snake in the subfamily Natricinae of the family Colubridae. The species is endemic to the southeastern United States, and preys mainly on crayfish.

For the crayfish snake genus in the Colubridae, see Regina (snake).

Crayfish snake
Gulf crayfish snake (Liodytes r. sinicola)
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Reptilia
Order: Squamata
Suborder: Serpentes
Family: Colubridae
Genus: Liodytes
Species:
L. rigida
Binomial name
Liodytes rigida
(Say, 1825)
Synonyms[2]
  • Coluber rigidus
    Say, 1825
  • Tropidonotus rigidus
    — Holbrook, 1842
  • Regina rigida
    — Baird & Girard, 1853
  • Natrix rigida
    — Cope, 1892
  • Nerodia rigida
    — Conant, 1978
  • Liodytes rigida
    — Price, 1983

Geographic range

L. rigida is found on the coastal plains of both the Atlantic Coast and the Gulf Coast: in eastern Texas, southeastern Oklahoma, southern Arkansas, Louisiana, southern Mississippi, southern Alabama, northern Florida, southern Georgia, eastern South Carolina, and southeastern North Carolina. There is also a disjunct population in eastern Virginia.[3]

Description

Adults of L. rigida are on average 16 inches (about 41 cm) in total length (including tail), and are heavy-bodied.[4] The maximum recorded total length for this species is 31+3⁄8 inches (80 cm).[5]

L. rigida is olive brown dorsally. Additionally, two blackish dorsal stripes may or may not be present. The upper lips (labial scales) are yellow. Ventrally, it is yellow with two parallel series of black spots, which merge anteriorly into a single series. The ventral surface of the tail may have a median black line, or it may be unmarked.

The dorsal scales are arranged in 19 rows at midbody. They are strongly keeled, except for the first two rows. The first row (adjacent to the ventrals) is smooth, and the second row is weakly keeled. The ventrals number 132-142. The anal plate is divided. The subcaudals number 51-71, and are divided.[6]

Diet

L. rigida eats crayfish.[2]

Reproduction

L. rigida is viviparous.[2]

Subspecies

Three subspecies of L. rigida are recognized as being valid, including the nominotypical subspecies.[2]

Nota bene: A trinomial authority in parentheses indicates that the subspecies was originally described in a genus other than Liodytes.

References
  1. Hammerson GA (2016). "Liodytes rigida ". The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species 2016: e.T63886A90084591. https://dx.doi.org/10.2305/IUCN.UK.2016-1.RLTS.T63886A90084591.en. Downloaded on 07 October 2018.
  2. Liodytes rigida at the Reptarium.cz Reptile Database. Accessed 28 July 2017.
  3. Conant R (1975). A Field Guide to Reptiles and Amphibians of Eastern and Central North America, Second Edition. Boston: Houghton Mifflin Company. xviii + 429 pp. + Plates 1-48. ISBN 0-395-19979-4 (hardcover), ISBN 0-395-19977-8 (paperback). ("GLOSSY WATER SNAKE Natrix rigida ", pp. 150-151 + Plate 21 + Map 108).
  4. Schmidt KP, Davis DD (1941). Field Book of Snakes of the United States and Canada. New York: G.P. Putnam's Sons. 365 pp. ("STRIPED WATER SNAKE.–Natrix rigida Say", pp. 213-214, Figure 69).
  5. Smith HM, Brodie ED Jr (1982). Reptiles of North America: A Guide to Field Identification. New York: Golden Press. 240 pp. ISBN 0-307-13666-3 (paperback), ISBN 0-307-47009-1 (hardcover). ("GLOSSY CRAYFISH SNAKE Regina rigida ", pp. 158-159).
  6. Boulenger GA (1893). Catalogue of the Snakes in the British Museum (Natural History). Volume I., Containing the Families ... Colubridæ Aglyphæ, part. London: Trustees of the British Museum (Natural History). xiii + 448 pp. + Plates I-XXVIII. ("Tropidonotus rigidus ", p. 240).

Further reading
  • Behler JL, King FW (1979). The Audubon Society Field Guide to North American Reptiles and Amphibians. New York: Alfred A. Knopf. 743 pp., 657 color plates. ISBN 0-394-50824-6. ("Glossy Crayfish Water Snake (Regina rigida)", pp. 647-648 + Plate 474).
  • Conant R, Bridges W (1939). What Snake Is That? A Field Guide to the Snakes of the United States East of the Rocky Mountains. (With 108 drawings by Edmond Malnate). New York and London: D. Appleton-Century Company. Frontispiece map + viii + 163 pp. + Plates A-C, 1-32. ("STRIPED WATER SNAKE Natrix rigida ", p. 97 + Plate 17, figure 50).
  • Powell R, Conant R, Collins JT (2016). Peterson Field Guide to Reptiles and Amphibians of Eastern and Central North America, Fourth Edition. Boston and New York: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt. xiv + 494 pp., 47 plates, 207 figures. ISBN 978-0-544-12997-9. ("GLOSSY SWAMPSNAKE Liodytes rigida ", p. 414 + Plate 41).
  • Say T (1825). "Descriptions of three new species of COLUBER, inhabiting the United States". J. Acad. Nat. Sci. Philadelphia 4 (2): 237-241. (Coluber rigidus, new species, pp. 239–240).
  • Stejneger L, Barbour T (1917). A Check List of North American Amphibians and Reptiles. Cambridge, Massachusetts: Harvard University Press. 125 pp. ("Natrix rigida ", p. 95).
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