Richard Bartlett photo.

Scientific name: Farancia abacura reinwardtii

Description: Average adult size is 36-52 inches (91.4-132 cm), record is 74 inches (187.9 cm). Adults are large and thick bodied. The body is glossy black (iridescent blue in the sunlight) with the ends of 52 or fewer red to pink bars from the belly extending onto its sides. The belly is a red and black checkerboard pattern. The neck is thick and indistinct. The tail tip ends in a pointed, horny scale. The scales are mostly smooth, yet there are some keeled scales above the anal vent. There are 19 dorsal scale rows at midbody. The iris is red and the pupil is round. Juveniles are similar in appearance to adults, but the red to pink bars from the belly extend higher onto their sides.

Western mudsnake: Top of head

Western mudsnake: Left to right: Side of head and front (face) view of head.

Range: In Florida, this subspecies occurs only as an intergrade form in the extreme western panhandle. Here, these snakes possess intermediate characters of both eastern and western mud snakes. Outside of Florida, it occurs westward to eastern Texas and central Arkansas, northward to extreme southern Illinois and Indiana, and east to western Georgia.

Habitat: It commonly occurs in almost any aquatic (freshwater) habitat including cypress swamps, drainage ditches, marshes, rivers, and lakes. It is especially fond of waters choked with aquatic vegetation and muddy bottoms and banks, where it finds its favorite prey, aquatic salamanders (amphiumas).

Comments: . See comments under eastern mud snake.

Comparison with other species: Rainbow snakes (Farancia erytrogramma) and Florida swamp snakes (Seminatrix pygaea pygaea) lack the mud snake's reddish pink lateral trianglular pattern as well as its checkerboard belly pattern. Banded water snakes (Nerodia fasciata) have complete dorsal crossbands (and not reddish pink) and a distinct stripe on the sides of their faces.

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