Storeria dekayi

For other species commonly referred to as the brown snake, see brown snake.
Storeria dekayi
brown snake or De Kay's snake
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordatam
Subphylum: Vertebrata
Class: Reptilia
Order: Squamata
Suborder: Serpentes
Family: Colubridae
Subfamily: Natricinae
Genus: Storeria
Species: S. dekayi
Binomial name
Storeria dekayi
(Holbrook, 1836)
Synonyms

Storeria dekayi, commonly known as the brown snake or De Kay's snake, is a small species of colubrid snake.[3][4]

Geographic range

It is native to Southern Ontario and Quebec, most of the eastern half of the United States, through Mexico, Guatemala, Honduras, and possibly El Salvador.[1][2]

Description

Dorsally, it is brown to gray with a lighter center stripe bordered by small black spots; ventrally, it is lighter brown or pink with small black dots at the ends of the ventral scales.[5] Adults usually measure less than 12 inches (30 cm) in total length (including tail), but the record total length is 19 38 inches (49 cm).[6] It has keeled dorsal scales, and no loreal scale.[7]

Reproduction

Like other natricine snakes (such as watersnakes, genus Nerodia; and gartersnakes, genus Thamnophis), Storeria dekayi is an ovoviviparous species.

Diet

It eats earthworms, slugs, snails, and most other small invertebrates.

Etymology

The specific name, dekayi, is in honor of American zoologist James Ellsworth De Kay (1792–1851), who collected the first specimen in Long Island, New York, while the generic name, Storeria, honors zoologist David Humphreys Storer.[8][9] This is the only North American snake whose binomial is a double honorific - that is, both the generic name and the specific name honor people.

Northern brown snake, S. d. dekayi

Subspecies

There are eight recognized subspecies of S. dekayi, including the nominotypical subspecies.[2][10]

References

  1. 1 2 Hammerson GA, Mendoza-Quijano F, Lee J. (2007). "Storeria dekayi ". IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. Version 2011.2. International Union for Conservation of Nature. Retrieved 23 March 2012.
  2. 1 2 3 The Reptile Database. www.reptile-database.org.
  3. Stejneger L, Barbour T. 1917. A Check List of North American Amphibians and Reptiles. Cambridge, Massachusetts: Harvard University Press. 125 pp. (Storeria dekayi, p. 98).
  4. Wright AH, Wright AA. Handbook of Snakes of the United States and Canada. Ithaca and London: Comstock. 1,105 pp. (in two volumes). (Storeria dekayi, pp. 697-714, Figures 205-209, Map 53).
  5. Schmidt KP, Davis DD. 1941. Field Book of Snakes of the United States and Canada. New York: G.P. Putnam's Sons. 365 pp. (Storeria dekayi, pp. 227-228 + Plate 25).
  6. Conant R. 1975. A Field Guide to Reptiles and Amphibians of Eastern and Central North America, Second Edition. Boston: Houghton Mifflin. xviii + 429 pp. ISBN 0-395-19979-4 (hardcover), ISBN 0-395-19977-8 (paperback). (Storeria dekayi, pp. 153-156, Figure 35 + Plate 22 + Map 28).
  7. Smith HM, Brodie ED Jr. 1982. Reptiles of North America: A Guide to Field Identification. New York: Golden Press. 240 pp. (Storeria dekayi, pp. 158-159).
  8. Scientific and Common Names of the Reptiles and Amphibians of North America Explained. http://ebeltz.net/herps/biogappx.html
  9. Beolens B, Watkins M, Grayson M. 2011. The Eponym Dictionary of Reptiles. Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press. xiii + 296 pp. ISBN 978-1-4214-0135-5. (Storeria dekayi, p. 68; genus Storeria, p. 255).
  10. ITIS (Integrated Taxonomic Information System). www.itis.gov.

External links

Further reading

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