For other species commonly referred to as the brown snake, see brown snake.

Storeria dekayi, commonly known as the brown snake or De Kay's snake, is a small species

Species

In biology, a species is one of the basic units of biological classification and a taxonomic rank. A species is often defined as a group of organisms capable of interbreeding and producing fertile offspring. While in many cases this definition is adequate, more precise or differing measures are...

 of colubrid

Colubrid

A colubrid is a member of the snake family Colubridae. This broad classification of snakes includes about two-thirds of all snake species on earth. The earliest species of the snake family date back to the Oligocene epoch. With 304 genera and 1,938 species, Colubridae is the largest snake family...

 snake

Snake

Snakes are elongate, legless, carnivorous reptiles of the suborder Serpentes that can be distinguished from legless lizards by their lack of eyelids and external ears. Like all squamates, snakes are ectothermic, amniote vertebrates covered in overlapping scales...

.

Geographic range

It is native to Southern Ontario

Southern Ontario

Southern Ontario is a region of the province of Ontario, Canada that lies south of the French River and Algonquin Park. Depending on the inclusion of the Parry Sound and Muskoka districts, its surface area would cover between 14 to 15% of the province. It is the southernmost region of...

 and Québec

Quebec

Quebec or is a province in east-central Canada. It is the only Canadian province with a predominantly French-speaking population and the only one whose sole official language is French at the provincial level....

, most of the eastern half of the United States

United States

The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

, through Mexico

Mexico

The United Mexican States , commonly known as Mexico , is a federal constitutional republic in North America. It is bordered on the north by the United States; on the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; on the southeast by Guatemala, Belize, and the Caribbean Sea; and on the east by the Gulf of...

 and into Central America

Central America

Central America is the central geographic region of the Americas. It is the southernmost, isthmian portion of the North American continent, which connects with South America on the southeast. When considered part of the unified continental model, it is considered a subcontinent...

.

Description

Dorsally it is brown to gray with a lighter center stripe bordered by small black spots; ventrally it is lighter brown or pink with small black dots at the ends of the ventral scales. Adults usually measure less than 12 inches (30.5 cm), but the record size is 19⅜ inches (49.2 cm). It has keeled dorsal scales, and no loreal scale.

Reproduction

Like its relatives the water snakes (genus Nerodia

Nerodia

Nerodia is a genus of nonvenomous colubrid snakes commonly referred to as water snakes.- Description :Nerodia species vary greatly, but all are relatively heavy-bodied snakes, sometimes growing to 1.2 m or larger. They have flattened heads, with small eyes that have round pupils, and keeled...

) and garter snakes (genus Thamnophis) it is ovoviviparous.

Etymology

The epithet dekayi is in honor of American zoologist James Ellsworth De Kay

James Ellsworth De Kay

James Ellsworth De Kay was an American zoologist.-Biography:...

 (1792-1851) who collected the first specimen in Long Island, New York.^{http://ebeltz.net/herps/biogappx.html}

Subspecies

There are nine recognized subspecies

Subspecies

Subspecies in biological classification, is either a taxonomic rank subordinate to species, ora taxonomic unit in that rank . A subspecies cannot be recognized in isolation: a species will either be recognized as having no subspecies at all or two or more, never just one...

 of S. dekayi:

• Storeria dekayi anomala Dugès
  Alfredo Dugès
  Alfredo Dugès ; was a French-born, Mexican physician and naturalist who was born in Montpellier. He was the son of zoologist Antoine Louis Dugès...
  
  , 1888
• Northern brown snake, Storeria dekayi dekayi (Holbrook
  John Edwards Holbrook
  John Edwards Holbrook American zoologist, herpetologist, physician, and naturalist, was born in Beaufort, South Carolina, the son of Silas Holbrook, a teacher, and Mary Edwards....
  
  , 1836)
• marsh brown snake, Storeria dekayi limnetes Anderson, 1961
• Storeria dekayi temporalineata Trapido, 1944
• Texas brown snake, Storeria dekayi texana Trapido, 1944
• Storeria dekayi tropica Cope
  Edward Drinker Cope
  Edward Drinker Cope was an American paleontologist and comparative anatomist, as well as a noted herpetologist and ichthyologist. Born to a wealthy Quaker family, Cope distinguished himself as a child prodigy interested in science; he published his first scientific paper at the age of nineteen...
  
  , 1885
• Florida brown snake, Storeria dekayi victa O.P. Hay
  Oliver Perry Hay
  Oliver Perry Hay was an American professor, herpetologist, ichthyologist, and paleontologist. From 1894-1895 he worked at the Field Museum of Natural History as Assistant Curator of Zoology where, despite his specialty in ichthyology, he worked in all non-ornithological fields of zoology...
  
  , 1892
• Midland brown snake, Storeria dekayi wrightorum Trapido, 1944
• Mexican yellowbelly brown snake, Storeria hidalgoensis Taylor, 1942