Description: The Atlantic salt marsh snake (N. c. taeniata) is a partially striped salt marsh snake that reaches a maximum length of 32 inches, although it is typically less than 26 inches in length. The pattern consists of a gray to pale olive background with black to dark brown stripes anteriorly, the stripes breaking up into rows of spots posteriorly. The extent of the striping is variable, but most individuals from the coastal marshes of Volusia County are striped on at least the anterior 30 percent of the body. The venter is black with a central row of large cream to yellowish spots. As in the case of the dorsal striping, this ventral pattern is best developed anteriorly and tends to break down posteriorly. The red pigmentation characteristic of mangrove water snakes is conspicuously lacking in Atlantic salt marsh snakes from the vicinity of Edgewater, Volusia County, and northward.

Habitat: Atlantic salt marsh snakes are restricted to brackish, tidal marshes. They most often have been found in association with saltwort flats and salt grass-bordered tidal creeks. It is not known if they occur in the adjacent black needlerush habitat. Atlantic salt marsh snake use of marsh habitats may be limited by water level; with extreme fluctuations making the marsh too hydric or xeric. When inactive or pursued, they frequently retreat into one of the numerous fiddler crab (Uca pugilator) burrows that riddle the edge of the marsh and the banks of the tidal creeks

Range: is found only in the coastal salt marshes of Brevard and Volusia, Florida.

Found in these States: FL

Diet: Fishes are the primary food.

Reproduction: This species is ovoviviparous. Captive individuals have given birth to 3 to 9 young from August to October. Fecundity is low relative to the adjacent freshwater species, N. fasciata, which may give birth to 50 or more young.

Status: In 2023, USFWS initiated a 5-year status review.

Taxonomy: