NATURAL HISTORY · CATALOGUE RECORD
Salt Marsh Snake
Nerodia clarkii (Baird & Girard, 1853)
Source-backed taxonomic record
Accepted species in Catalogue of Life’s 11 September 2026 base release. This preserves the source classification and available supporting data; it is not a completed species monograph.
Open encyclopedia reference
Nerodia clarkii, commonly known as the salt marsh snake or the saltmarsh watersnake, is a species of semi-aquatic, nonvenomous, colubrid snake found in the southeastern United States. Their range extends along the tidal salt marshes of the Gulf of Mexico and the Atlantic Coast from Texas to Florida, with an additional population in northern Cuba. The three subspecies of this snake are primarily distinguished by color pattern and geographic range.
Salt marsh snakes are the only U.S. snake species indigenous to saltwater habitats, being reported as common on coastal barrier islands without freshwater (Allen 1932).
Wikipedia contributors, Nerodia clarkii; see linked history · CC BY-SA 4.0 . Plain-text lead excerpt, at most 180 words; no infobox or later sections Retrieved 2026-10-05T08:07:54.418912+00:00. This reference remains separate from the taxonomic record.
Identity & source status
- Scientific name
- Nerodia clarkii (Baird & Girard, 1853)
- Name authority
- (Baird & Girard, 1853)
- Common name
- Salt Marsh Snake
- Rank
- species
- Accepted status
- accepted
- Kingdom
- Animalia
- Phylum
- Chordata
- Class
- Reptilia
- Order
- Squamata
- Family
- Colubridae
- Genus
- Nerodia
- Extinction status
- Not supplied by this source
Classification family tree
Nested taxonomic groups from the source. This is not a direct-ancestor chain, a dated evolutionary tree or a phylogenetic reconstruction.
- domainEukaryota (Chatton, 1925) Whittaker & Margulis, 1978
- kingdomAnimalia
- phylumChordata
- subphylumVertebrata
- infraphylumGnathostomata
- parvphylumOsteichthyes
- megaclassTetrapoda
- classReptilia Laurenti, 1768
- orderSquamata Oppel, 1811
- suborderSerpentes Linnaeus, 1758
- infraorderAlethinophidia Nopcsa, 1923
- familyColubridae
- subfamilyNatricinae
- genusNerodia
- speciesNerodia clarkii (Baird & Girard, 1853)
Close classified relatives
These entries share the source’s genus, Nerodia. They are not necessarily the closest relatives established by molecular evidence.
| Species | Classification | Source status |
|---|---|---|
| Plainbelly Water SnakeNerodia erythrogaster (Forster, 1771) | ColubridaeChordata | Accepted speciesExtinction status not supplied |
| Southern Water SnakeNerodia fasciata (Linnaeus, 1766) | ColubridaeChordata | Accepted speciesExtinction status not supplied |
| Florida Green Water SnakeNerodia floridana (Goff, 1936) | ColubridaeChordata | Accepted speciesExtinction status not supplied |
| Northern Water SnakeNerodia sipedon (Linnaeus, 1758) | ColubridaeChordata | Accepted speciesExtinction status not supplied |
| Brown Water SnakeNerodia taxispilota (Holbrook, 1838) | ColubridaeChordata | Accepted speciesExtinction status not supplied |
| Mississippi Green Water SnakeNerodia cyclopion (Duméril, Bibron & Duméril, 1854) | ColubridaeChordata | Accepted speciesExtinction status not supplied |
| Brazos Water SnakeNerodia harteri (Trapido, 1941) | ColubridaeChordata | Accepted speciesExtinction status not supplied |
| Concho Water SnakeNerodia paucimaculata (Tinkle & Conant, 1961) | ColubridaeChordata | Accepted speciesExtinction status not supplied |
| Diamondback Water SnakeNerodia rhombifer (Hallowell, 1852) | ColubridaeChordata | Accepted speciesExtinction status not supplied |
Names & synonyms
Names explicitly linked to this accepted taxon in the source. Synonymy can change with revision.
| Recorded name | Source status |
|---|---|
| Regina clarkii Baird & Girard, 1853 Baird & Girard, 1853 | synonym |
| Natrix compressicauda bivillata Cope, 1889 Cope, 1889 | synonym |
| Natrix fasciata clarki | synonym |
| Natrix compressicauda taeniata Cope, 1895 Cope, 1895 | synonym |
| Nerodia compressicauda Kennicott, 1860 Kennicott, 1860 | synonym |
| Tropidonotus ustus Cope, 1860 Cope, 1860 | synonym |
| Tropidonotus compressicaudus walkeri Yarrow, 1883 Yarrow, 1883 | synonym |
| Natrix compressicauda obscura Lönnberg, 1894 Lönnberg, 1894 | synonym |
| Tropidonotus compsolaemus Cope, 1861 Cope, 1861 | synonym |
Documented distribution
Source distribution statements, not a complete range map. A listed locality is not necessarily a place of origin.
Source literature & publication evidence
References attached to this source record, including nomenclatural citations where supplied. This is a selected bibliography; abbreviated citations remain in the source’s form.
- https://reptile-database.reptarium.cz/species?genus=Nerodia&species=clarkii Source fields: Taxon.tsv dwc:namePublishedIn, Taxon.tsv dcterms:references
Origins, evidence & remaining research
Name authority and publication references document nomenclature where the source supplies it. They do not establish evolutionary origins or the earliest fossil occurrence.
Specimen-level evidence, morphology, ecological research, phylogenetic studies, a comprehensive bibliography and a located literary passage have not yet been compiled for this record. A suitable sourced image remains to be added.
Dataset citation & attribution
This exact taxon in ChecklistBank · Catalogue of Life 2026-09-11
Catalogue of Life 2026-09-11; dataset 316321; doi:10.48580/dgz5n. https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ . Retrieved 5 October 2026.
Stable key: col:476BD. Classification follows source parent identifiers. English common names may vary by region.