NATURAL HISTORY · CATALOGUE RECORD
Brown Water Snake
Nerodia taxispilota (Holbrook, 1838)
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 brown water snake (Nerodia taxispilota) is a large species of nonvenomous natricine snake endemic to the southeastern United States. This snake is often one of the most abundant species of snakes found in rivers and streams of the southeastern United States, yet many aspects of its natural history are poorly known. Due to abundance and distribution throughout its biological range, this species could be used to investigate anthropogenic impacts on aquatic ecosystems by studying their movements.
Lycodonomorphus rufulus is sometimes also called the brown water snake, but L. rufulus is found in South Africa.
Wikipedia contributors, Brown water snake; see linked history · CC BY-SA 4.0 . Plain-text lead excerpt, at most 180 words; no infobox or later sections Retrieved 2026-10-05T08:10:02.582092+00:00. This reference remains separate from the taxonomic record.
Identity & source status
- Scientific name
- Nerodia taxispilota (Holbrook, 1838)
- Name authority
- (Holbrook, 1838)
- Common name
- Brown 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 taxispilota (Holbrook, 1838)
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 |
| 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 |
|---|---|
| Tropidonotus taxispilotus Holbrook, 1843 Holbrook, 1843 | synonym |
| Coluber taxispilotus Holbrook, 1838 Holbrook, 1838 | 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=taxispilota 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:476BW. Classification follows source parent identifiers. English common names may vary by region.