Description: Adults of L. rigida are on average 16 inches in total length (including tail), and are heavy-bodied. The maximum recorded total length for this species is 31+3/8 inches. L. rigida is olive brown dorsally. Additionally, two blackish dorsal stripes may or may not be present. The upper lips (labial scales) are yellow. Ventrally, it is yellow with two parallel series of black spots, which merge anteriorly into a single series. The ventral surface of the tail may have a median black line, or it may be unmarked. The dorsal scales are arranged in 19 rows at midbody. They are strongly keeled, except for the first two rows. The first row (adjacent to the ventrals) is smooth, and the second row is weakly keeled. The ventrals number 132 to 142. The anal plate is divided. The subcaudals number 51 to 71, and are divided.
Habitat: Habitats include slow waters of lowland areas, such as swamps, nontidal and tidal freshwater marshes, sphagnum bogs, pocosins, seepage wetlands, ponds, lakes, flatwoods ponds, cypress ponds, bayous, rice fields, canals, drainage ditches, mucky areas along streams, and floodplains; also sometimes grassy or wooded upland habitats adjacent to wetlands. Usually this snake is secluded in burrows (e.g., crayfish, muskrat), under mats of wet vegetation or debris at the water's edge, or among aquatic plants, but occasionally it basks on banks or on vegetation over water. It may travel on land during rain.
Range:L. rigida is found on the coastal plains of both the Atlantic Coast and the Gulf Coast: in eastern Texas, southeastern Oklahoma, southern Arkansas, Louisiana, southern Mississippi, southern Alabama, northern Florida, southern Georgia, eastern South Carolina, and southeastern North Carolina. There is also a disjunct population in eastern Virginia.
Diet: Glossy Swampsnakes are nocturnal (active at night) and feed primarily on crayfish, but they will also feed on small fishes, salamanders, small frogs, and various arthropods such as dragonfly larvae and aquatic beetles.
Reproduction: In Florida, females typically give live birth to 6 to 14 young in late summer.
Status: Listed as Least Concern in view of its wide distribution, tolerance of a degree of habitat modification, presumed large population, and because it is unlikely to be declining fast enough to qualify for listing in a more threatened category.
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Disclaimer: ITIS taxonomy is based on the latest scientific consensus available, and is provided as a general reference source for interested parties. However, it is not a legal authority for statutory or regulatory purposes. While every effort has been made to provide the most reliable and up-to-date information available, ultimate legal requirements with respect to species are contained in provisions of treaties to which the United States is a party, wildlife statutes, regulations, and any applicable notices that have been published in the Federal Register. For further information on U.S. legal requirements with respect to protected taxa, please contact the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.
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