NATURAL HISTORY · CATALOGUE RECORD
Northern Water Snake
Nerodia sipedon (Linnaeus, 1758)
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
The common watersnake (Nerodia sipedon) is a species of large, nonvenomous, common snake in the family Colubridae. The species is native to North America. It is frequently mistaken for the venomous cottonmouth (Agkistrodon piscivorus).
Wikipedia contributors, Common watersnake; see linked history · CC BY-SA 4.0 . Plain-text lead excerpt, at most 180 words; no infobox or later sections Retrieved 2026-10-05T08:57:11.042348+00:00. This reference remains separate from the taxonomic record.
Identity & source status
- Scientific name
- Nerodia sipedon (Linnaeus, 1758)
- Name authority
- (Linnaeus, 1758)
- Common name
- Northern Water 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 sipedon (Linnaeus, 1758)
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 |
| Brown Water SnakeNerodia taxispilota (Holbrook, 1838) | ColubridaeChordata | Accepted speciesExtinction status not supplied |
| Salt Marsh SnakeNerodia clarkii (Baird & Girard, 1853) | 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 |
|---|---|
| Nerodia agassizii Baird & Girard, 1853 Baird & Girard, 1853 | synonym |
| Coluber sipedon Linnaeus, 1758 Linnaeus, 1758 | synonym |
| Natrix sipedon williamengelsi Conant & Lazell, 1973 Conant & Lazell, 1973 | synonym |
| Natrix fasciata pleuralis Cope, 1892 Cope, 1892 | 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=sipedon 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:476BV. Classification follows source parent identifiers. English common names may vary by region.