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Gulf salt marsh snake

Nerodia clarkii · Snakes · Reptiles

Gulf salt marsh snake (Nerodia clarkii): Keeled scales in 21 (occasionally 23) rows and a divided anal scale; 38-76 cm, up to 91 cm. Gulf form typically shows four dark stripes along the back on a lighter body; other forms vary from plain to blotched or banded. 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
Nerodia clarkii
Family
Colubridae
In North America
Native
Range
Brackish coasts of the northern Gulf of Mexico from near Corpus Christi, Texas to Florida (including the Keys) and the Atlantic coast of northern Florida to Volusia County; also northern Cuba.
Biology

How to identify it

Keeled scales in 21 (occasionally 23) rows and a divided anal scale; 38-76 cm, up to 91 cm. [1][2]

Gulf form typically shows four dark stripes along the back on a lighter body; other forms vary from plain to blotched or banded. [1][2]

Proportionally smaller head and laterally compressed tail base compared with the banded water snake (N. fasciata, 23 rows). [1][2]

Compared with the banded water snake: Saltmarsh snake typically has 21 dorsal scale rows, a smaller head and a laterally compressed tail base; banded water snake has 23 rows. [1][2]

Compared with the queen snake: Queen and Graham's crayfish snakes have 19 or fewer dorsal scale rows; saltmarsh snake has more than 19. [1][2]

Compared with the garter snakes: Garter snakes have a single anal scale; saltmarsh snake has a divided one. [1][2]

Species it is confused with

Check these before deciding what you are looking at. If you are not certain what it is, do not shoot.

Field notes

  • Identification Confirm a gulf salt marsh snake before you act. Compared with the banded water snake: Saltmarsh snake typically has 21 dorsal scale rows, a smaller head and a laterally compressed tail base; banded water snake has 23 rows.[1][2]
Field knowledge

Where it lives

Estuarine brackish and salt marshes with Spartina, Juncus and Salicornia, mangrove swamps, and less often inland freshwater marshes. [1][2]

Field knowledge

How it behaves

Lures small fish by flicking its tongue; eats small fish and fiddler crabs. [1][2]

Needs fresh water to rehydrate and shifts between saltier and fresher water. [1][2]

Uses crayfish, fiddler-crab or muskrat burrows, and sometimes shelters under rocks and logs. [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.

Conservation and protection

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

Brackish coasts of the northern Gulf of Mexico from near Corpus Christi, Texas to Florida (including the Keys) and the Atlantic coast of northern Florida to Volusia County; also northern Cuba.

Biology

Sources

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

  1. NatureServe · reviewed 2026-09-30

    NatureServe

  2. University of Michigan Museum of Zoology · reviewed 2026-09-30

    University of Michigan Museum of Zoology