West Coast garter snake

The West Coast garter snake (Thamnophis validus), also known commonly as Kennicott's water snake, is a species of snake in the subfamily Natricinae of the family Colubridae. The species is endemic to Mexico. Four subspecies are recognized.

West Coast garter snake
Conservation status
Least Concern  (IUCN 3.1)
Scientific classification
Domain:	Eukaryota
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Chordata
Class:	Reptilia
Order:	Squamata
Suborder:	Serpentes
Family:	Colubridae
Genus:	Thamnophis
Species:	T. validus
Binomial name
Thamnophis validus (Kennicott, 1860)
Synonyms
Regina valida Kennicott, 1860 Tropidonotus validus — Boulenger, 1893 Natrix valida — Van Denburgh, 1895 Nerodia valida — Stebbins, 1985 Thamnophis validus — A. de Queiroz & Lawson, 1994

Geographic range

T. validus is found in the Mexican states of Baja California Sur, Chihuahua, Guerrero, Jalisco, and Sonora.

Reproduction

T. validus is viviparous.

Subspecies

There are four subspecies of T. validus which are recognized as being valid, including the nominate subspecies.

• T. v. celaeno (Cope, 1861) – cape garter snake, Mexican Pacific lowlands garter snake
• T. v. isabelleae (Conant, 1953)
• T. v. thamnophisoides (Conant, 1961)
• T. v. validus (Kennicott, 1860)

Nota bene: A trinomial authority in parentheses indicates that the subspecies was originally described in a genus other than Thamnophis.

Etymology

The subspecific name isabelleae is in honor of the American wildlife artist Isabelle Hunt Conant, the wife of the American herpetologist Roger Conant.

Further reading

• Boulenger GA (1893). Catalogue of the Snakes in the British Museum (Natural History). Volume I., Containing the Families ... Colubridæ Aglyphæ, part. London: Trustees of the British Museum (Natural History). (Taylor and Francis, printers). xiii + 448 pp. + Plates I–XXVIII. (Tropidonotus validus, pp. 237–238).
• Conant R (1953). "Three New Water Snakes of the Genus [Natrix] from Mexico". Natural History Miscellanea (126): 1–9. (Natrix valida isabelleae, new subspecies, pp. 7–9).
• Conant R (1961). "A New Water Snake from Mexico, with Notes on Anal Plates and Apical Pits in Natrix and Thamnophis ". American Museum Novitates (2060): 1–22. (Natrix valida thamnophisoides, new subspecies, pp. 2–12, Figure 1).
• Cope ED (1861). "Notes and descriptions of new and little known species of American Reptiles". Proceedings of the Academy of Natural Sciences of Philadelphia 12: 339–345. (Tropidonotus celaeno, new species, p. 341).
• Heimes P (2016). Snakes of Mexico: Herpetofauna Mexicana Vol. I. Frankfurt am Main, Germany: Edition Chimaira. 572 pp. ISBN 978-3899731002. (Thamnophis validus, p. 385).
• Kennicott R (1860). "Descriptions of New Species of North American Serpents in the Museum of the Smithsonian Institution, Washington". Proc. Acad. Nat. Sci. Philadelphia 12: 328–338. (Regina valida, new species, pp. 334–335).