Black Swamp Snake (Liodytes pygaea)
Description: The black swamp snake is a small, thin snake, usually 10–15 inches long (including tail); the record size is 22 inches. It is uniformly black on the dorsum, with a bright orange or red belly.
Habitat: L. pygaea prefers swampland habitat that is heavily vegetated.
Range: L. pygaea is found in the states of North Carolina, South Carolina, Georgia, Alabama, and Florida on the east coast of the United States.
Diet: L. pygaea feeds on small fish, tadpoles, frogs, salamanders, sirens, amphiumas, and invertebrates, such as leeches and earthworms.
Reproduction: The black swamp snake is ovoviviparous, giving birth to live young directly in shallow water. Unlike many snakes, females feed actively while gravid, suggesting that they may pass nutrients directly on to the young. Broods of 11 to 13 have been observed. Newborns are 4 1/4 - 5 inches long (including tail).
Status: Listed as Least Concern in view of its wide distribution, tolerance of a degree of habitat modification, presumed large population, and because it is unlikely to be declining fast enough to qualify for listing in a more threatened category.
»» Kingdom: Animalia - Animals
»» Phylum: Chordata - Chordates
»» Subphylum: Vertebrata - Vertebrates
»» Class: Reptilia - Reptiles
»» Order: Squamata - Scaled Reptiles
»» Suborder: Serpentes
»» Superfamily: Colubroidea
»» Family: Colubridae - Colubrids
»» Genus: Liodytes
»» Species: Liodytes pygaea - Black Swamp Snake
»» Subspecies:
»» Liodytes pygaea cyclas - South Florida Swamp Snake
»» Liodytes pygaea paludis - Carolina Swamp Snake
»» Liodytes pygaea pygaea - North Florida Swamp Snake
This article uses material from the Wikipedia article "Black swamp snake", which is released under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share-Alike License 3.0. Content may have been omitted from the original, but no content has been changed or extended.
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