Seminatrix pygaea (COPE, 1871)

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Higher Taxa	Colubridae (Natricinae), Colubroidea, Caenophidia, Alethinophidia, Serpentes, Squamata (snakes)
Subspecies	Seminatrix pygaea cyclas DOWLING 1950 Seminatrix pygaea paludis DOWLING 1950 Seminatrix pygaea pygaea (COPE 1871)
Common Names	E: Black Swamp Snake cyclas: South Florida Swamp Snake paludis: Carolina Swamp Snake pygaea: North Florida Swamp Snake
Synonym	Contia pygaea COPE 1871: 223 Contia pygaea — GARMAN 1884: 93 Tropidonotus pygaeus — BOULENGER 1893: 228 Seminatrix pygaea — COPE 1895: 678 Contia pygaea — LOENNBERG 1894 Seminatrix pygaea — DOWLING 1950 Seminatrix pygaea — CONANT & COLLINS 1991: 160 Seminatrix pygaea — ERNST & ERNST 2003: 314 Seminatrix pygaea — CROTHER et al. 2012 Liodytes pygaea — MCVAY & CARSTENS 2013 Seminatrix pygaea — WALLACH et al. 2014: 665 Seminatrix pygaea — NUÑEZ et al. 2023 Seminatrix pygaea cyclas (DOWLING 1950) Seminatrix pygaea cyclas — CROTHER 2000 Seminatrix pygaea cyclas — TENNANT & BARTLETT 2000: 162 Seminatrix pygaea cyclas — CROTHER et al. 2012 Seminatrix pygaea cyclas — NUÑEZ et al. 2023 (by implication) Seminatrix pygaea paludis DOWLING 1950 Seminatrix pygaea paludis — PALMER & BRASWELL 1995 Seminatrix pygaea paludis — CROTHER 2000 Seminatrix pygaea paludis — TENNANT & BARTLETT 2000: 163 Seminatrix pygaea paludis — CROTHER et al. 2012 Seminatrix pygaea paludis — NUÑEZ et al. 2023 (by implication) Seminatrix pygaea pygaea (COPE 1871) Contia pygaea COPE 1871: 223 Seminatrix pygaea pygaea — MEHRTENS 1987: 167 Seminatrix pygaea pygaea — CROTHER 2000 Seminatrix pygaea pygaea — TENNANT & BARTLETT 2000: 161 Seminatrix pygaea pygaea — CROTHER et al. 2012 Liodytes pygaea pygaea — GUYER et al. 2018 Seminatrix pygaea pygaea — NUÑEZ et al. 2023 (by implication)
Distribution	USA (Florida, SE Alabama, S/E Georgia, South Carolina, E North Carolina) cyclas: USA (Florida); type locality: Indian Prairie, 2-8 miles NE of Lakeport, Glades County, Florida. paludis: USA (North Carolina, South Carolina, Georgia); Type locality: Camp Davis, Near hollyridge, Onslow County, North Carolina. pygaea: USA (Florida, S Georgia); Type locality: Volusia [county], Florida
Reproduction	ovovivparous
Types	Holotype: ANSP 3533 Holotype: UMMZ 91457 [paludis] Holotype: UMMZ 96301 [cyclas]
Diagnosis	Diagnosis (genus Seminatrix): “Size : small (maximum length, ca. 425 mm.) with a moderately slender body and a short tail (15 to 25 per cent of total length). Head only slightly distinct from body ; eyes medium, about the same size as distance between anterior margin of eye to nostril. Coloration : black dorsally with faint pale lines running through the center of three to five lateral scale rows. Ventral metallic red (7i)3 with the dorsal color extending on the anterior edges for about one-third of the width; labials grayish olive (21" "r). Nor- mal colubrid scutellation: a rounded rostral, two internasals, two prefront- als, a frontal, two supraoculars, two parietals. Nasal single, nostril near upper margin with a suture extending from it to labial border. Loreal present. Oculars usually 1+2. Temporals usually 1+2 or 1 + 1. Upper labials, usually 8; lower labials, usually 9. Two pairs of chin shields, sub- equal in length. Dorsals smooth, rounded, and without apical pits, lower rows widest, decreasing in width dorsally; scale formula usually 17 - 17 - (-4/-4) - 15. Ventrals 112 to 134; anal plate usually divided; caudals paired, 35 to 45 (M = ca. 41) in females, 46 to 56 (M = ca. 51) in males. Dentition complete, maxillary teeth 19 to 21, increasing slightly in length posteriorly; pterygoid teeth 17 to 18, decreasing posteriorly; palatine teeth 10 to 12, sub- equal; dentary teeth 20 to 23, subequal. Hypapophyses present through- out vertebral column. Hemipenis unforked, spinose, and without papillae; four indistinct groups of enlarged spines near base, two basal hooks lat- erally ; sulcus spermaticus single, lips not conspicuously raised.” (Dowling 1950)
Comment	Type species: Contia pygaea COPE 1871 is the type species of the genus Seminatrix COPE 1895: 678. See diagnosis in DOWLING 1950. Diagnosis (paludis): ventrals over 126 (M ca. 131).
Etymology	from Latin “pyga”, from Greek “the rump”; apparently after an unusual condition in the holotype which was more compressed than other specimens. “cyclas” form Greek, “garment ornamented with aborder around the bottom” (DOWLING 1950).
References	Boulenger, G.A. 1893. Catalogue of the snakes in the British Museum (Nat. Hist.) I. London (Taylor & Francis), 448 pp. - get paper here Burbrink FT, Futterman I. 2019. Female‐ biased gape and body-size dimorphism in the New World watersnakes (tribe: Thamnophiini) oppose predictions from Rensch's rule. Ecol Evol. 00:1–10 Camper, Jeffrey D. 2019. The Reptiles of South Carolina. University of South Carolina Press, 288 pp. [review in Copeia 107 (3): 590, 2019] - get paper here Conant,R. & Collins,J.T. 1991. A Field Guide to Reptiles and Amphibians of Eastern/Central North America, 3rd ed. Houghton Mifflin (Boston/New York), xx + 450 p. Cope, E.D. 1871. Ninth contribution to the herpetology of tropical America. Proc. Acad. Nat. Sci. Philadelphia 23: 200-224 - get paper here Crother, B. I. (ed.) 2012. Standard Common and Current Scientific Names for North American Amphibians, Turtles, Reptiles, and Crocodilians, Seventh Edition. Herpetological Circular 39: 1-92 Dorcas, Michael E ; Gibbons, J Whitfield; Dowling, Herndon G 1998. Seminatrix, S. pygaea. Catalogue of American Amphibians and Reptiles 679: 1-5 - get paper here Dowling, Herndon G. 1950. Studies of the black swamp snake, Seminatrix pygaea (Cope), with descriptions of two new subspecies. Miscellaneous publications, Museum of Zoology, University of Michigan (76): 1-38 - get paper here Durso, A. M. and B. Rosenthal 2016. Seminatrix pygaea (Black Swampsnake) predation. Herpetological Review 47(3): 484-485. - get paper here Durso, A.M., Davis, S.F., Carter, R.F., Keim, M., Lynch, T. & Smith, L. 2017. Seminatrix pygaea (Black Swampsnake) Predation. Herpetological Review 48 (3): 683-685. - get paper here Enge, Kevin M. 2009. Venomous and non-venomous snakes of Florida. Publication of the Florida Fish & Wildlife Conservation Commission. 16 pp. Ernst, C.H. & Ernst, E.M. 2003. Snakes of the United States and Canada. Smithsonian Inst. Press, Washington, 668 pp. Ernst, C.H., & Barbour, R.W. 1989. Snakes of eastern North America. George Mason Univ. Press, Fairfax, VA 282 pp. Garman, Samuel 1884. The reptiles and batrachians of North America. Mem. Mus. comp. Zool, Cambridge (Massachusetts), 8 (3): xxxiv + 185 pp. [1883] [CNAH reprint 10] - get paper here Gibbons, J. W. & Mike Dorcas 2004. North American Water Snakes. University of Oklahoma Press, 496 pp. Gibbons, J. Whitfield; David E. Scott, Travis J. Ryan, Kurt A. Buhlmann, Tracey D. Tuberville, Brian S. Metts, Judith L. Greene, Tony Mills, Yale Leiden, Sean Poppy, Christopher T. Winne 2000. The Global Decline of Reptiles, Déjà Vu Amphibians: Reptile species are declining on a global scale. Six significant threats to reptile populations are habitat loss and degradation, introduced invasive species, environmental pollution, disease, unsus BioScience 50 (8): 653–666 - get paper here Guyer, Craig; Mark A. Bailey, and Robert H. Mount 2018. Lizards and snakes of Alabama. University of Alabama Press, 397 pp. - get paper here Horn, K & Kontos, C 2018. Liodytes pygaea cyclas (Southern Florida Swampsnake) and Coluber constrictor (North American Racer) Predation and diet. Herpetological Review 49 (2): 345 - get paper here Jensen, John B.; Carlos D. Camp, Whit Gibbons, & Matt J. Elliott 2008. Amphibians and reptiles of Georgia. University of Georgia Press, 575 pp. Lönnberg, Einar 1894. Notes on reptiles and batrachians collected in Florida in 1892 and 1893. Proc. US Natl. Mus. 17 (1003): 317-339 - get paper here Mays, Jonathan D., Enge, Kevin M. and Moler, Paul E. 2016. Geographic Distribution: Liodytes pygaea pygaea (Northern Florida Swampsnake). Herpetological Review 47 (4): 630 - get paper here McVay, John David; Bryan Carstens 2013. Testing monophyly without well-supported gene trees: Evidence from multi-locus nuclear data conflicts with existing taxonomy in the snake tribe Thamnophiini. Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution, Volume 68, Issue 3, September 2013, Pages 425–431 - get paper here Mehrtens, J.M. 1987. Living snakes of the world in color. Sterling Publ. Co., hic., New York, NY: 480 pp. Nuñez, L.P., Gray, L.N., Weisrock, D.W., Burbrink, F.T., 2023. The Phylogenomic and Biogeographic History of the Gartersnakes, Watersnakes, and Allies (Natricidae: Thamnophiini). Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution - get paper here Palmer, W.M. & Braswell, A.L. 1995. Reptiles of North Carolina. Univ. North Carolina Press Palmer, William M.;Paul, John R. 1963. The black swamp snake, Seminatrix pygaea paludis Dowling, in North Carolina. Herpetologica 19 (3): 219-221 - get paper here Tennant, A. 2003. Snakes of North America - Eastern and Central Regions, revised edition. Lone Star Books, 605 pp. Tennant, A. & Bartlett, R.D. 2000. Snakes of North America - Eastern and Central Regions. Gulf Publishing, Houston, TX, 588 pp. Wallach, Van; Kenneth L. Williams , Jeff Boundy 2014. Snakes of the World: A Catalogue of Living and Extinct Species. [type catalogue] Taylor and Francis, CRC Press, 1237 pp. Willson, J. D. and C. T. Winne 2015. Evaluating the functional importance of secretive species: A case study of aquatic snake predators in isolated wetlands. Journal of Zoology, DOI: 10.1111/jzo.12311 - get paper here
External links	IUCN Red List National Center for Biotechnology Information Google images

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