Home/Species/ Scarletsnake

Cemophora coccinea

(Blumenbach, 1788)

Scarletsnake

G5Secure Found in 3 roadless areas NatureServe Explorer →

G5SecureGlobal Rank

Least concernIUCN

MediumThreat Impact

Identity

Unique IDELEMENT_GLOBAL.2.105886

Element CodeARADB03010

Record TypeSPECIES

ClassificationSpecies

Classification StatusStandard

Name CategoryVertebrate Animal

IUCNLeast concern

Endemicendemic to a single nation

KingdomAnimalia

PhylumCraniata

ClassReptilia

OrderSquamata

FamilyColubridae

GenusCemophora

Other Common Names

Scarlet Snake (EN) scarlet snake (EN)

Concept Reference

Crother, B. I. (editor). 2017. Scientific and standard English names of amphibians and reptiles of North America north of Mexico, with comments regarding confidence in our understanding. 8th edition. SSAR Herpetological Circular 43:1-104. [Updates in SSAR North American Species Names Database at: https://ssarherps.org/cndb]

Taxonomic Comments

Based on a study of nuclear and mitochondrial DNA, Weinell and Austin (2017) recognize no subspecies within C. coccinea. Crother (2017) and SSAR still recognize two subspecies, C. c. coccinea and C. c. copei, though they have elevated C. c. lineri to species status following Weinell and Austin (2017).

Conservation Status

Review Date2006-08-30

Change Date1996-10-29

Edition Date2005-09-02

Edition AuthorsHammerson, G.

Threat ImpactMedium

Range Extent200,000-2,500,000 square km (about 80,000-1,000,000 square miles)

Number of Occurrences81 to >300

Range Extent Comments

The range extends from southern New Jersey, Maryland, Virginia, Kentucky, southern Indiana, southern Illinois, and Missouri, and eastern Oklahoma south to southern Texas, most of the Gulf Coast (except inLouisiana), and southern Florida (Conant and Collins 1991).

Occurrences Comments

This species is represented by a large number of occurrences or subpopulations (see map in Williams 1985). Palmer and Braswell (1995) mapped well over 100 collection sites in North Carolina. Mount (1975) mapped more than 50 localities in Alabama. Trauth et al. (2004) mapped about 40 collection sites in Arkansas. Werler and Dixon (2000) mapped 19 collection sites in Texas.

Threat Impact Comments

This species is not threatened in most of its range. Local declines likely have occurred as a result of habitat alteration.

Ecology & Habitat

Habitat

This secretive, semifossorial snake inhabits hardwood, mixed, or pine forest/woodland and adjacent open areas with sandy or loamy well-drained soils (Behler and King 1979, Trauth et al. 2004). Specific habitats include pine flatwoods, dry or dry prairie, salt grass prairie, maritime hardwood hammock, bottomland forest, sandhills, margins of irrigation canals in sawgrass prairies, borders of swamps and plowed fields, abandoned fields, and roadsides (Tennant 1984, 1997; Werler and Dixon 2000). Individuals are sometimes found under rocks or in or under logs. Eggs are laid under moist humus (Minton 1972) or in other underground sites.

Reproduction

Lays clutch of 3-8 eggs, mostly in June-July; eggs hatch in late summer (Behler and King 1979, Ashton and Ashton 1981).

Terrestrial Habitats

Forest - HardwoodForest - ConiferForest - MixedWoodland - HardwoodWoodland - ConiferWoodland - MixedGrassland/herbaceous

Palustrine Habitats

Riparian

Other Nations (1)

United StatesN5

Province	Rank	Native
District of Columbia	SH	Yes
New Jersey	SNR	Yes
Georgia	S4	Yes
Mississippi	S4	Yes
Indiana	SH	Yes
Arkansas	S3	Yes
Missouri	S2	Yes
Tennessee	S5	Yes
Oklahoma	S2	Yes
Delaware	SH	Yes
Alabama	SNR	Yes
Kentucky	S3	Yes
South Carolina	S4	Yes
Maryland	S1	Yes
Louisiana	S3	Yes
Texas	S4	Yes
Virginia	S4	Yes
Florida	S4	Yes
North Carolina	S3	Yes

Roadless Areas (3)

Florida (3)

Area	Forest	Acres
Alexander Springs Creek	Ocala National Forest	2,954
Gum Bay	Apalachicola National Forest	11,645
Long Bay	Apalachicola National Forest	5,726

References (26)

Ashton, R. E., Jr., and P. S. Ashton. 1981. Handbook of reptiles and amphibians of Florida. Part One: The Snakes. Windward Publishing Company, Miami, Florida. 176 pp.
Behler, J. L., and F. W. King. 1979. The Audubon Society field guide to North American reptiles and amphibians. Alfred A. Knopf, New York. 719 pp.
Burbrink, F. T., and R. Lawson. 2007. How and when did Old World rat snakes disperse into the New World? Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution 43:173-189.
Collins, J. T. 1990. Standard common and current scientific names for North American amphibians and reptiles. 3rd ed. Society for the Study of Amphibians and Reptiles. Herpetological Circular No. 19. 41 pp.
Collins, J. T. 1991. Viewpoint: a new taxonomic arrangement for some North American amphibians and reptiles. SSAR Herpetol. Review 22:42-43.
Collins, J. T., and T. W. Taggart. 2002. Standard common and current scientific names for North American amphibians, turtles, reptiles, & crocodilians. Fifth edition. Publication of The Center for North American Herpetology, Lawrence, Kansas. iv + 44 pp.
Conant, R. and J. T. Collins. 1991. A field guide to reptiles and amphibians: eastern and central North America. Third edition. Houghton Mifflin Co., Boston, Massachusetts. 450 pp.
Conant, R., and J. T. Collins. 1998. A field guide to reptiles and amphibians: eastern and central North America. Third edition, expanded. Houghton Mifflin Co., Boston, Massachusetts. 616 pp.
Crother, B. I. (editor). 2008. Scientific and standard English names of amphibians and reptiles of North America north of Mexico, with comments regarding confidence in our understanding. Sixth edition. Society for the Study of Amphibians and Reptiles Herpetological Circular 37:1-84. Online with updates at: http://www.ssarherps.org/pages/comm_names/Index.php
Crother, B. I. (editor). 2012. Scientific and standard English names of amphibians and reptiles of North America north of Mexico, with comments regarding confidence in our understanding. 7th edition. SSAR Herpetological Circular 39:1-92.
Crother, B. I. (editor). 2017. Scientific and standard English names of amphibians and reptiles of North America north of Mexico, with comments regarding confidence in our understanding. 8th edition. SSAR Herpetological Circular 43:1-104. [Updates in SSAR North American Species Names Database at: https://ssarherps.org/cndb]
Crother, B. I., J. Boundy, J. A. Campbell, K. de Queiroz, D. R. Frost, R. Highton, J. B. Iverson, P. A. Meylan, T. W. Reeder, M. E. Seidel, J. W. Sites, Jr., T. W. Taggart, S. G. Tilley, and D. B. Wake. 2000 [2001]. Scientific and standard English names of amphibians and reptiles of North America north of Mexico, with comments regarding confidence in our understanding. Society for the Study of Amphibians and Reptiles, Herpetological Circular No. 29. 82 pp.
Crother, B. I., J. Boundy, J. A. Campbell, K. de Quieroz, D. Frost, D. M. Green, R. Highton, J. B. Iverson, R. W. McDiarmid, P. A. Meylan, T. W. Reeder, M. E. Seidel, J. W. Sites, Jr., S. G. Tilley, and D. B. Wake. 2003. Scientific and standard English names of amphibians and reptiles of North America north of Mexico: update. Herpetological Review 34:198-203.
Dowling, H. G. 1993. Viewpoint: a reply to Collins (1991, 1992). Herpetol. Rev. 24:11-13.
Enge, K. M., and J. D. Sullivan. 2000. Seasonal activity of the scarlet snake, Cemophora coccinea, in Florida. Herpetological Review 31:82-84.
Ernst, C. H., and E. M. Ernst. 2003. Snakes of the United States and Canada. Smithsonian Books, Washington, D.C.
Johnson, T. R. 2000. The amphibians and reptiles of Missouri. Second edition. Missouri Department of Conservation, Jefferson City. 400 pp.
Minton, S. A., Jr. 1972. Amphibians and reptiles of Indiana. Indiana Academy Science Monographs 3. v + 346 pp.
Palmer, W. M., and A. L. Braswell. 1995. Reptiles of North Carolina. North Carolina State Museum of Natural Sciences, University of North Carolina Press, Chapel Hill, North Carolina.
Tennant, A. 1984. The Snakes of Texas. Texas Monthly Press, Austin, Texas. 561 pp.
Tennant, A. 1997. A field guide to snakes of Florida. Gulf Publishing Company, Houston, Texas. xiii + 257 pp.
Trauth, S. E., H. W. Robison, and M. V. Plummer. 2004. The amphibians and reptiles of Arkansas. University of Arkansas Press.
Weinell, J. L., and C. C. Austin. 2017. Refugia and speciation in North American scarlet snakes (Cemophora). Journal of Herpetology 51(1):161-171.
Werler, J. E., and J. R. Dixon. 2000. Texas snakes: identification, distribution, and natural history. University of Texas Press, Austin. xv + 437 pp.
Williams, K. L. 1985c. Cemophora, C. coccinea. Catalogue of American Amphibians and Reptiles 374:1-4.
Williams, K. L., L. D. Wilson, F. Sogandares-Bernal, A. E. Smalley, R. D. Suttkus, and J. S. Ramsey. 1967. A review of the colubrid snake genus Cemophora Cope. Tulane Studies in Zoology 13(4):103-124.