Swamp Snake (Seminatrix pygaea)

Black Swamp Snake
Photograph by LA Dawson. Some rights reserved. (view image details)

SWAMP SNAKE FACTS

Description
The Swamp Snake is the only species in the Seminatrix genus. There are three subspecies: South Florida Swamp Snake (Seminatrix pygaea cyclas), Carolina Swamp Snake (Seminatrix pygaea paludis), North Florida Swamp Snake (Seminatrix pygaea pygaea). They are small thin snakes. Color is uniformly black, with a bright orange or red underside. They are almost entirely aquatic and spend most of their time amongst dense vegetation in cypress swamps.

Size
35cm - 38cm

Environment
heavily vegetated swampland

Food
eats small fish, tadpoles, frogs, salamanders, sirens, invertebrates including leeches and earthworms.

Breeding
Seminatrix are ovoviviparous and give birth to live young in shallow water.

Range
Swamp snakes are found in North Carolina, South Carolina, Georgia, and Florida on the east coast of the United States.

Notes
Non-venomous and harmless to humans.

Classification

Class:	Reptilia
Order:	Squamata (Serpentes)
Family:	Colubridae
Genus:	Seminatrix
Species:	pygaea
Common Name:	Swamp Snake

  HOME
  ANIMAL LISTS
   Mammals
   Reptiles
   Birds
   Insects

REPTILES
Crocodiles and Turtles

Snakes

Lizards