North GroundHuntNorth Ground Hunt — return to North Ground
Species authority page

Glossy crayfish snake

Regina rigida · Snakes · Reptiles

Glossy crayfish snake (Regina rigida): Small, heavy-bodied snake, usually 14-24 in; glossy brown to olive-brown, sometimes with a faint dark stripe down the back and each side. Yellow lip scales contrast sharply with the olive-brown head; lower sides yellowish-tan. This profile does not establish whether taking it is legal anywhere.

Check rules for a place and date

Certified rules currently represented in Hunt: coverage in development. This is coverage, not a legal answer.

Scientific name
Regina rigida
Family
Colubridae
In North America
Native
Range
Southeastern United States, per NatureServe: Alabama, Arkansas, Florida, Georgia, Louisiana, Mississippi, North Carolina, Oklahoma, South Carolina, Texas and Virginia; in Florida from Osceola County northwest into the Panhandle.
Biology

How to identify it

Small, heavy-bodied snake, usually 14-24 in; glossy brown to olive-brown, sometimes with a faint dark stripe down the back and each side. [1][2]

Yellow lip scales contrast sharply with the olive-brown head; lower sides yellowish-tan. [1][2]

Belly yellow or cream with two rows of small black half-moon markings. [1][2]

Keeled scales in 19 rows at midbody; relatively large eyes with round pupils. [1][2]

Compared with the striped swampsnake (striped crayfish snake): Unpatterned belly and smooth body scales, versus keeled scales and a half-moon-marked belly in the glossy swampsnake (Florida Museum). [1][2]

Compared with the black swampsnake: Glossy black with a bright red belly (Florida Museum). [1][2]

Field notes

  • Identification Confirm a glossy crayfish snake before you act. Compared with the striped swampsnake (striped crayfish snake): Unpatterned belly and smooth body scales, versus keeled scales and a half-moon-marked belly in the glossy swampsnake (Florida Museum).[1][2]
Field knowledge

Where it lives

Slow-moving lowland waters: cypress swamps, marshes, bogs, ponds, lakes, ditches, rice fields, streams and floodplains. [1][2]

Usually secluded in crayfish or muskrat burrows, under wet vegetation or debris at the water's edge, or among aquatic plants; rarely far from water. [1][2]

Field knowledge

How it behaves

Nocturnal; feeds mainly on crayfish, also small fishes, salamanders and small frogs. [1][2]

Adults eat mainly crayfish; the young take small aquatic invertebrates such as dragonfly larvae. [1][2]

Flees into water and dives to the bottom when approached; a captured snake may flatten its head and release musk. [1][2]

Gives birth to live young (6-16) in summer; active March to early November in Texas. [1][2]

Regulatory handoff

Limited legal take

Legal take of this species exists only under narrow conditions — a quota, a draw, a permit, a small area, or animals released or held on private land — set by the authorities below. Nowhere else is a legal opportunity implied, and Hunt shows one only where a certified rule establishes it.

Where legal take is listed

Being listed is not an open season. Seasons, zones, licences, methods and limits decide whether this animal may be taken on a given day and place — check Hunt or the authority before you go. Listings read 2026-09-30.

Geospatial intelligence

Where it is found

Southeastern United States, per NatureServe: Alabama, Arkansas, Florida, Georgia, Louisiana, Mississippi, North Carolina, Oklahoma, South Carolina, Texas and Virginia; in Florida from Osceola County northwest into the Panhandle.

Biology

Sources

Every claim above is attributed to one of these published sources.

  1. NatureServe · reviewed 2026-09-30

    NatureServe

  2. Florida Museum of Natural History, University of Florida · reviewed 2026-09-30

    Florida Museum of Natural History, University of Florida