Red-bellied Mudsnake
Farancia abacura
Size
40–54 in
Status
Extirpated
Venomous
No
Region
SW IN (historic)
A large, glossy, harmless aquatic snake of deep southern swamps, considered gone from Indiana. A striking black-and-red animal at the edge of its northern range.
Identification
A shiny black snake with a red-and-black checkered belly that extends up the sides as bars. It has smooth scales and a pointed tail tip. Adults are large, 3.5–4.5 feet. It is nonvenomous despite the spine-like tail, which it may press harmlessly against a handler.
Habitat & Diet
A swamp specialist of mucky, vegetated wetlands, where it hunts aquatic salamanders (especially amphiumas and sirens). It is highly aquatic and secretive.
Conservation in Indiana
Considered extirpated from Indiana, at the far northern edge of its range; any sighting would be highly significant and should be reported. It depends on undisturbed southern swamp habitat.
Similar Species & Taxonomy
The glossy black Mudsnake is told from the Copperbelly Watersnake by the bright red-and-black bars that reach from its belly up onto the sides, and by its smooth, iridescent, unpatterned back. A large, highly aquatic egg-layer that preys on aquatic salamanders such as sirens. A mudsnake (family Colubridae, sometimes placed in the Dipsadidae) of the genus Farancia; Indiana's animals are the Western Mudsnake subspecies.
United States Range Map Distribution
Distribution in Indiana
