Mudsnake

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

Description

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

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

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.

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

Subspecies

There are two recognized subspecies of Farancia abacura, including the nominotypical subspecies:

Farancia abacura abacura (Holbrook, 1836) – eastern mud snake

Farancia abacura reinwardtii (Schlegel, 1837) – western mud snake

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.

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. After heavy rain fall, its home range may increase to take advantage of new food sources. It occupies aquatic habitats with freshwater or brackish waters. For hibernation, they commonly use cavities in soil or old tree stumps.

Behavior

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.

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.

Reproduction