Striped Swamp Snake

Tropidoclonium lineatum, (Hallowell)

Colouration: Grayish brown, with a whitish or yellowish stripe on the back, bordered with black dots; on each side, on the 2d and 3d rows of scales, is a similar stripe, though more obscure.
Dimensions: Total Length . . . . .14 inches. (The largest specimen examined was taken near St. Louis; it was 17 inches long.)
Distribution: The Central States, Ohio to northern Texas.
Habits: A secretive reptile. In captivity it prefers to hide and is indifferent to food. About this species, Mr. Julius Hurter, of St. Louis, Mo., remarks: "Found along the river front in an abandoned quarry near the Arsenal grounds, in city of St. Louis. They are found under rocks and under sods. In 1892 during the big inundations, I have found hundreds of them drowned and washed against the settling basins of the St. Louis water-works at Bissell's Point. They all came from a tract of low ground above the water-works, about 1 1/2 miles long by about 600 feet wide. This place is covered with rank grass, and in dry weather the ground which is of a boggy kind of black earth,cracks in all directions, thereby forming hiding places."

Size rather small. Form moderately stout; tail short. Head small, pointed, and of the same size as neck; eye small. Scales coarsely keeled.

Abdomen white, or yellow, with two rows of black spots.

From above, this serpent looks much like a garter snake (Eutaenia), but may be told by the smaller head and the rows of black dots on the abdomen. (See accompanying illustration).

Length of Tail . . . . .1 3/4 inches.

Greatest Diameter . . . . .3/8 inches.

Width of Head . . . . .5/16 inches.

Length of Head . . . . .1/2 inches.

The Genus Seminatrix: The single species inhabits the extreme southeastern corner of the United States. Though closely allied to the water snakes and frequenting damp places, it is a very secretive, almost subterraneous reptile. From the typical water snakes it differs in having smooth scales on the body; the scales of the tail are weakly keeled. It is probably a degenerate descendant of Tropidonotus, that has adopted an underground life, yet displays traces of the habits of the ancestral forms by living in the vicinity of water.