Description
Northern Watersnake in Potomac at Harpers Ferry, MD, USA
Date 5 September 2008
Author Badjoby
Source: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Northern_watersnake_j.jpg

The northern water snake (Nerodia sipedon) is a species of large, nonvenomous, common snake in the Colubridae family that is native to North America. Order: Squamata, Suborder: Serpentes, Family: Colubridae, Subfamily: Natricinae, Genus: Nerodia, Species: Nerodia sipedon (Linnaeus, 1758).
Subspecies:
Nerodia sipedon insularum (Conant & Clay, 1937) – Lake Erie water snake
Nerodia sipedon pleuralis (Cope, 1892) – midland water snake
Nerodia sipedon sipedon (Linnaeus, 1758) – northern water snake
Nerodia sipedon williamengelsi (Conant & Lazell, 1973) – Carolina water snake
Synonyms:
Coluber sipedon Linnaeus, 1758
Tropidonotus sipedon – Holbrook, 1842
Nerodia sipedon – Baird & Girard, 1853
Natrix sipedon – Stejneger & Barbour, 1917
Nerodia sipedon – Stebbins, 1985