Agkistrodon piscivorus piscivorus

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Eastern cottonmouth
Cottonmouth Snake, Gaping.jpg
Scientific classification OOjs UI icon edit-ltr.svg
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Reptilia
Order: Squamata
Suborder: Serpentes
Family: Viperidae
Genus: Agkistrodon
Species:
Subspecies:
A. p. piscivorus
Trinomial name
Agkistrodon piscivorus piscivorus
(Lacépède, 1789)
Agkistrodon-piscivorus--range-map.png
Geographic variation of A. piscivorus [1]
  A. p. piscivorus   Intergradation
Synonyms [2] [3]
  • Crotalus piscivorus – Lacépède, 1789
  • Trigonocephalus piscivorus – Duméeril & Bibron, 1854
  • Ancistrodon piscivorus – Cope, 1860
  • Toxicophis piscivorus – Baird & Girard, 1853
  • Agkistrodon piscivorus piscivorus – Conant & Collins, 1991
Common names: Eastern cottonmouth, cottonmouth moccasin, water moccasin, moccasin [4] [5]

Agkistrodon piscivorus piscivorus was previously identified as one of three subspecies of Agkistrodon piscivorus , with different geographic distributions, [6] found in the southeastern United States. However, recent taxonomic changes do not recognize any subspecies of cottonmouth (Agkistrodon piscivorus) as a valid taxa.

Contents

New Taxonomy

The eastern cottonmouth (Agkistrodon piscivorus piscivorus) [4] [5] was once classified as a subspecies of the cottonmouth ( Agkistrodon piscivorus ). However, DNA based studies published in 2008 and 2015, revealed no significant genetic difference between the eastern cottonmouth (Agkistrodon piscivorus piscivorus) and the western cottonmouth (Agkistrodon piscivorus leucostoma) and synonymized the two subspecies (with the oldest published name, A. piscivorus, having priority). The resulting taxonomy does not recognizes the eastern cottonmouth (A. p. piscivorus) as a valid taxon. [7] [8] Several subsequent reviews and species accounts have followed and supported the revised taxonomy. [9] [10] :437 p. [11] Information on this snake can be found in the Agkistrodon piscivorus article.

Description

Agkistrodon piscivorus piscivorus lightI.JPG
Agkistrodon piscivorus piscivorus head.JPG
Patterning on a younger specimen

This subspecies reaches 20–48 inches (51–121 cm) in length on average but has reached 74.5 inches (189 cm). The colour is mainly dark, and the body heavy. However younger specimens have red to brown crossbands, with a lighter brown background. The crossbands are spotted and speckled, and the tail sulphur coloured. The patterning darkens with time with many older adults being completely black.

The scales are keeled and dark broad stripes on the face disguise the eyes, which cannot be seen when viewed from above, and have a vertical (cat's-eye) slit like pupil. The eye is separated from the nostril by a deep facial pit. [3]

Geographic range

The United States in southeastern Virginia, the Atlantic Coastal Plain and lower Piedmont of North and South Carolina, including the banks, peninsulas and islands along the Atlantic coast, and west across Georgia (see map).

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Agkistrodon piscivorus is a species of venomous snake, a pit viper in the subfamily Crotalinae of the family Viperidae. It is one of the world's few semiaquatic vipers, and is native to the Southeastern United States. As an adult, it is large and capable of delivering a painful and potentially fatal bite. When threatened, it may respond by coiling its body and displaying its fangs. Individuals may bite when feeling threatened or being handled in any way. It tends to be found in or near water, particularly in slow-moving and shallow lakes, streams, and marshes. It is a capable swimmer, and like several species of snakes, is known to occasionally enter bays and estuaries and swim between barrier islands and the mainland.

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Western cottonmouth</span> Subspecies of snake

The western cottonmouth was once classified as a subspecies of the cottonmouth. However, DNA based studies published in 2008 and 2015, revealed no significant genetic difference between the eastern cottonmouth and the western cottonmouth and synonymized the two subspecies. The resulting taxonomy does not recognizes the western cottonmouth as a valid taxon. Several subsequent reviews and species accounts have followed and supported the revised taxonomy. Information on this snake can be found in the Agkistrodon piscivorus article.

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Florida cottonmouth</span> Species of snake

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<i>Agkistrodon laticinctus</i> Species of snake

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<i>Sistrurus tergeminus</i> Species of snake

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<i>Sistrurus tergeminus edwardsii</i> Subspecies of snake

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Agkistrodon howardgloydi is a species of venomous snake, a pit viper in the subfamily Crotalinae of the family Viperidae. The species is endemic to Central America. It is most commonly called castellana, but it has also been called the southern cantil, Gloyd's moccasin, and a number of other colloquial names. It is a rare species with a relatively small geographic distribution in the tropical dry forest on the Pacific coast of Honduras, Nicaragua, and extreme northwest Costa Rica. A. howardgloydi is a stout, medium-sized snake with a maximum total length of 96 cm (38 in). It is a viviparous species, with females giving birth in the rainy season from May to August. No clinical reports on envenomation had been published, but laboratory texts and analysis indicate the venom is highly toxic and similar to its close relative Agkistrodon bilineatus, and potentially lethal.

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References

  1. Campbell JA, Lamar WW. 2004. The Venomous Reptiles of the Western Hemisphere. Comstock Publishing Associates, Ithaca and London. 870 pp. 1500 plates. ISBN   0-8014-4141-2.
  2. McDiarmid RW, Campbell JA, Touré T. 1999. Snake Species of the World: A Taxonomic and Geographic Reference, vol. 1. Herpetologists' League. 511 pp. ISBN   1-893777-00-6 (series). ISBN   1-893777-01-4 (volume).
  3. 1 2 Florida Museum of Natural History: Eastern Cottonmouth
  4. 1 2 Conant R. 1975. A Field Guide to Reptiles and Amphibians of Eastern and Central North America. Second Edition. First published in 1958. Houghton Mifflin Company Boston. 429 pp. 48 plates. ISBN   0-395-19979-4 (hc), ISBN   0-395-19977-8 (pb).
  5. 1 2 Wright AH, Wright AA. 1957. Handbook of Snakes. Comstock Publishing Associates. (7th printing, 1985). 1105 pp. ISBN   0-8014-0463-0.
  6. "Agkistrodon piscivorus piscivorus". Integrated Taxonomic Information System . Retrieved 15 May 2014.
  7. Guiher TJ, Burbrink FT (2008). Demographic and phylogeographic histories of two venomous North American snakes of the genus Agkistrodon. Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution, 48: 543–553.
  8. Burbrink, Frank T. and Timothy J. Guiher. 2014. Considering gene flow when using coalescent methods to delimit lineages of North American pitvipers of the genus Agkistrodon. Zoological Journal of the Linnean Society, 173: 505–526.
  9. Crother, B. I. ( editor). 2017. Scientific and Standard English Names of Amphibians and Reptiles of North America North of Mexico, with Comments Regarding Confidence in Our Understanding, 8th. edition. SSAR Herpetological Circular 43, 1–102 pp. (page 59) ISBN   978-1-946681-00-3
  10. Powell, Robert, Roger Conant, and Joseph T. Collins. 2016. Peterson Field Guide to Reptiles and Amphibians of Eastern and Central North America, 4th ed. Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Co. New York. 494 pp. ISBN   978-0-544-12997-9
  11. Uetz P, Freed P, Aguilar R, Hošek J (editors) (2021). The Reptile Database, Agkistrodon piscivorus (accessed 6 August 2021)

Sources