Mud snake

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Mud snake
Western Mud Snake.jpg
Western mud snake (F. a. reinwardtii), in Illinois
G-Bartolotti E mud-1.jpg
Eastern mud snake (F. a. abacura), Pasco County, Florida
Scientific classification OOjs UI icon edit-ltr.svg
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 [2]
List

The mud snake (Farancia abacura) is a species of nonvenomous, semiaquatic, colubrid snake endemic to the southeastern United States. [3]

Contents

Description

The mud snake usually grows to a total length (including tail) of 40 to 54 inches (1-1.4 m), [4] with the record total length being slightly over 80 inches (2 m). [5]

This species is sexually dimorphic in size. Female adults are larger than males in total length. [6]

The upperside of the mud snake is glossy black. The underside is red and black, and the red extends up the sides to form bars of reddish-pink. Although, some have a completely black body with slightly lighter black spots instead of the common reddish colors.

The heavy body is cylindrical in cross section, and the short tail has a terminal spine.

The head scalation is distinctive in that there is 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. [7]

Farancia abacura is the only species that belongs to the Farancia genus, with two different subspecies within itself. [8]

Habitat

F. abacura inhabits the edges of streams and cypress swamps, among dense vegetation or under ground debris, using wet conditions to burrow itself into the mud. It is almost fully aquatic and rarely leaves the water, except to lay eggs, hibernate, or during drought to escape drying wetlands. [9] [10] After heavy rain fall, its home range may increase to take advantage of new food sources. [11] It occupies aquatic habitats with freshwater or brackish waters. [12] For hibernation, they commonly use cavities in soil or old tree stumps.

Behavior

Western mud snake feeding on a two-toed amphiuma. PXL 20230426 004206797.jpg
Western mud snake feeding on a two-toed amphiuma.

The mud snake is mostly aquatic and nocturnal. It preys mostly on giant aquatic salamanders in the genera Siren and Amphiuma , but it also eats other amphibians. [13]

They are known to use their sharply pointed tails to prod prey items, leading to the nickname "stinging snake", although their tail is not a stinger and cannot sting. Enlarged teeth occur at the rear of the upper jaw, which presumably help to hold slippery prey. Upon being disturbed, mud snakes will sometimes tuck their head beneath their coils and expose the red underside on the tail as a warning display. [14]

Reproduction

Venter G-Bartolotti E mud-2.jpg
Venter
Anerythristic eastern mud snake, Florida Mud Snake.jpg
Anerythristic eastern mud snake, Florida

Breeding of F. abacura takes place in the spring, mostly in the months of April and May. During copulation, the female will wind itself around the male. They can stay in this position for over a day. [15] Eight weeks after mating, the female lays 4 to 111 [16] eggs in a nest dug out of moist soil, sometimes in alligator nests. [17] The nests of this species can commonly be found in the ground under debris, but it is not limited to those areas. These nests are cavities in sandy soil with the eggs laid within. Some eggs can even be embedded into the wall. [18] There is a positive correlation between body length and clutch size, with larger females having larger clutch sizes. [6] She will remain with her eggs until they hatch, [19] 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. [20]

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. [3]

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. [3]

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:

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References

  1. Hammerson, G.A. (2007). "Farancia abacura". IUCN Red List of Threatened Species . 2007: e.T63779A12707670. doi: 10.2305/IUCN.UK.2007.RLTS.T63779A12707670.en . Retrieved 19 November 2021.
  2. Boulenger GA (1894). Catalogue of the Snakes in the British Museum (Natural History). Volume II., Containing the Conclusion of the Colubridæ Aglyphæ. London: Trustees of the British Museum (Natural History). (Taylor and Francis, Printers). xi + 382 pp. + Plates I-XX. (Farancia abacura, pp. 291–292).
  3. 1 2 3 Willson JD (2006). Mud Snake (Farancia abacura) Archived 2011-09-02 at the Wayback Machine Savannah River Ecology Laboratory. Accessed April 23, 2011.
  4. Missouri Department of Conservation (2013). Western Mud Snake Archived 2011-09-07 at the Wayback Machine MDC Online. Accessed May 18, 2013
  5. The University of Georgia (2008). Mud Snake Archived 2011-09-29 at the Wayback Machine The University of Georgia: Museum of Natural History. Accessed April 23, 2011.
  6. 1 2 Powell, Chet; Stevenson, Dirk J.; Smith, Maegan; Jensen, John B. (2010). "A New Clutch Size Record for the Mud Snake (Farancia abacura)". Southeastern Naturalist. 9 (1): 177–178. doi:10.1656/058.009.0114. ISSN   1528-7092. S2CID   86810679.
  7. 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. (Farancia abacura, pp. 162–163.).
  8. Meade, George P. (1946). "The Natural History of the Mud Snake". The Scientific Monthly. 63 (1): 21–29. ISSN   0096-3771.
  9. Steen DA, Stevenson DJ, Beane JC, Willson JD, Aresco MJ, Godwin JC, Graham SP, Smith LL, Howze JM, Rudolph DC, Pierce JB, Lee JR, Gregory BB, Jensen J, Stiles SH, Stiles JA, Nazdrowicz NH, Guyer C (2013). "Terrestrial movements of the Red-bellied Mudsnake (Farancia abacura) and Rainbow Snake (F. erytrogramma)" (PDF). Herpetological Review. 44: 208–213.
  10. 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 (4): 1071–1078. doi:10.1672/0277-5212(2006)26[1071:prossi]2.0.co;2. S2CID   26314838.{{cite journal}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
  11. Plummer, M.V., O’Neal, C.S., Cooper, S.M. et al. Leave or Die: Dispersal of Red-Bellied Mudsnakes (Farancia abacura) from their Home Ranges in an Isolated Wetland. Wetlands 40, 2489–2498 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1007/s13157-020-01362-w
  12. Snyder, Richard C. (1945-10-15). "Notes on the Snakes of Southeastern Alabama". Copeia. 1945 (3): 173–174. doi:10.2307/1438290. ISSN   0045-8511. JSTOR   1438290.
  13. Durso AM, Willson JD, Winne CT (2013). "Habitat influences diet overlap in aquatic snake assemblages" (PDF). Journal of Zoology (London). 291 (3): 185–193. doi:10.1111/jzo.12061.
  14. "Virginia Herpetological Society". www.virginiaherpetologicalsociety.com. Retrieved 2022-04-28.
  15. Meade, George P. “Breeding Habits of Farancia Abacura in Captivity.” Copeia, vol. 1937, no. 1, pp. 12–15. JSTOR, doi : 10.2307/1437364.
  16. Powell C, Stevenson DJ, Smith M, Jensen JB (2010). "A new clutch size record for the Mud Snake (Farancia abacura)". Southeastern Naturalist. 9: 177–178. doi:10.1656/058.009.0114. S2CID   86810679.
  17. Hall PM, Meier AJ (1993). "Reproduction and behavior of western mud snakes (Farancia abacura reinwardtii ) in American alligator nests". Copeia. 1993 (1): 219–222. doi:10.2307/1446314. JSTOR   1446314.
  18. Riemer, William J. “The Snake Farancia Abacura: An Attended Nest.” Herpetologica, vol. 13, no. 1, 1957, pp. 31–32. JSTOR, JSTOR   3890149.
  19. Goin CJ, Goin OB, Zug GR (1978). Introduction to Herpetology, Third Edition. San Francisco: W.H. Freeman. xi + 378 pp. ISBN   0-7167-0020-4. ("Parental Care", Farancia abacura, p. 121).
  20. Semlitsch RD, Pechmann JH, Gibbons JW (1988). "Annual emergence of juvenile mud snakes (Farancia abacura) at aquatic habitats". Copeia. 1988 (1): 243–245. doi:10.2307/1445944. JSTOR   1445944.

Further reading