Biological Examination of Eastern Cottonmouth Snake Paper Example

Introduction

The eastern cottonmouth snake that is commonly referred to as the venomous water moccasin or scientifically as Agkistrodon piscivorus is found in most southeastern states, which include Alabama, Virginia, South Carolina, Georgia, Mississippi, Florida, and North Carolina.

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The eastern cottonmouth snake can be observed around freshwater ponds, lakes, rivers, and swamps. Notably, it is the most venomous water snakes in the state of Florida. I am currently stationed at Eglin AFB, Florida. I chose to discuss the snake since I patrol the base that covers 464, 000 acres of wildlife. Eglin base is famous for various recreational activities. I like hunting, canoeing, kayaking, hiking, and fishing; therefore, I get to observe the snake occasionally, resulting in an increased interest in the creature.

Physical Description

Size

Most people who tour the coastal regions of Florida confuse the eastern cottonmouth with other black water snakes in the area. The eastern cottonmouth has specific distinct features concerning its size, color, and behavioral characteristics. The eastern cottonmouth snake can exceed 5.5 feet in length, while the average size from 3-5 feet or 1892 mm (Eastern Cottonmouth, 2003). The Water Moccasin has a massive thick body.

Color

Notably, its color ranges from dark olive, black, or brown with dark brown bands on its sides and around the back. The band's edges are serrated in a saw-like pattern, and are challenging to observe since the reptile's body may seem black completely (Eastern Cottonmouth, 2003). Furthermore, on both sides of the head, the snake has dark stripes, which start at the eye and progress backward along the head. A lighter cream pinstripe often outlines the topside of the strips, while the bottom has a complementary lighter color. The head stripes are also difficult to see as compared to those of the Florida cottonmouth. The snake underside may have a dark tan color with blotches or a yellowish-white appearance.

Head and Body

The shape of the head and eyes are the most distinguishing features of the creature. Noticeably, it has elliptical pupils that resemble the eyes of a cat. Additionally, its eyes are located on the sides of the head and have a heat sensing cavity between the nostril commonly present in all pit vipers (Eastern Cottonmouth, 2003). When viewed from above, the creature has a sizeable trilateral skull that is broader than its neck and its eyes cannot be observed. Additionally, young water moccasins have bright patterned scales with a yellow tail tip. They use the tip to attract their prey by swinging it like a worm. The inside part of its mouth resembles white cotton, which gives rise to its name. Moreover, its fangs are retracted.

Life Cycle and Reproduction

Life Cycle

The life cycle of an eastern cottonmouth snake starts at fertilization after copulation.

Stage 1: embryonic development

Embryonic development marks the start of a snake's development. At this stage, the fertilized ova develop within a span of three to four months depending on the prevailing weather conditions (Burkett, 1966). One can observe the sex of embryo since the male's hemipenes is often averted. The embryo increases in size as the gestation period progress and obtains food and nutrient from the yolk.

Stage 2: young snakes

After the gestation period, a water mucosa hatches a litter of eight to fifteen young snakes. The juvenile snakes pop out of the eggs by biting the eggshell using egg tooth and measure about seven to ten inches long. Notably, females abandon their snakelets after gestation to fend for themselves (Burkett, 1966). The juveniles have functional fangs fully supplied with venom and use their colored tails to capture their prey by deceiving them in wormlike movements to attract frogs and lizards.

Stage 3: Adulthood

Snakelets take 2-4 years to mature fully. Skin shedding is one of the significant distinguishing features between young and adult snakes with the latter shedding once a year while juveniles shed four times annually (Burkett, 1966).

Reproduction

Several types of research have revealed that cottonmouth snakes start breeding at the beginning of the spring season. Female eastern cottonmouth snakes have a biennial reproductive cycle in such a way that it ovulates only after a two-year interval (Burkett, 1966; Rheubert, Freeborn, Sever, Siegel, & Gribbins, 2014). For females below 300 millimeters, they have undeveloped ovaries, with follicles of about two millimeters in length. According to Burkett (1966) study, embryonic development is observed from June. On the other hand, males have a bimodal spermatogenic cycle with spermatogenesis occurring at two peaks in October, June, and August (Rheubert et al., 2014). Notably, persistent stress can cause a disruption of spermatogenesis cycle in male cottonmouths.

During copulation, a mature male fights with others to establish a mating territory. It dances to attract females and breeding starts when the female exposes her cloaca by lifting her tail followed by deposition of spermatozoa by the male leading to fertilization. The mating period takes up to four hours with most part spend with the male prodding the female's back.

Structure and Function

Anatomy

The snake's heart is of significant interest concerning its anatomy. Unlike other terrestrial mammals and birds, the heart of snake is not constrained in the thoracic cavity by a bony enclosure (Lillywhite & Lillywhite S, 2017). Hence, researchers have documented different heart positions associated with gravitational stress present in the creature's habitat. For marine species, the heart is located closer to the body center compared to those of scansorial terrestrials (Lillywhite & Lillywhite S, 2017). Additionally, Agkistrodon species, such as the eastern cottonmouth, have their hearts in an intermediate position compared to the above two species at about 33.33% of the total body length.

Physiology

In a physiological milieu, the position of the heart affects the cephalic blood pressure both interspecifically and interspecifically. In this case, the average arterial blood pressure rises with an increase in head to heart distance and body mass (Lillywhite & Lillywhite, 2017). Notably, in Agkistrodon, the heart is located in the anterior locus and is more pronounced in longer snakes. The shift is an evolutional response to gravitational disturbances on blood circulation. Centrally placed hearts tend to have a minimized blood circulation rate as the cottonmouth snakes climb in their semiaquatic habitat (Lillywhite & Lillywhite, 2017). Notably, the anterior position reduces the pressure that the heart works against when the snake assumes an upright position and favors the circulation of blood in the brain regardless of the body angle.

Energy Ecology

Food Sources

The primary sources of food for eastern cottonmouth snakes located in Florida's coastal islands are fish, which are usually regurgitated or dropped by birds (Lillywhite, Pfaller, & Sheehy, 2015). Additionally, it feeds of opportunistically on various cold and warm-blooded creatures such as frogs, semiaquatic snakes, birds, insects, eggs, carrion and young turtles in the southeastern wetlands (Lillywhite et al., 2015). The cottonmouth injects venom or coils around its prey to paralyze them. Notably, it starts by swallowing the head to detach its jawbones to allow passage of a mammal into its belly.

Feeding Pattern

Water moccasins have a relatively passive life with little movements. The snakes mostly scavenge for food at night. However, the cottonmouths have peculiar a foraging pattern since they increase their scavenging activity at full moonlight as opposed to other predators. The phenomenon is present since it increases the chances of the snake visually detecting its prey concerning their response movements (Burkett, 1966). Moreover, fish that are dropped by nesting birds glisten under bright moonlight improving their detection. On the other hand, bright light reduces competition for food as older snakes dominate over the subordinates.

Habitat

Location of Organism

The eastern cottonmouth snakes are semiaquatic reptiles that live in swampy areas, wooded regions, streams, marshes and along waterbodies such as island offshores, lakes, and ponds. Notably, the snake can swim in water making it one of the world's rarest swimming semiaquatic viper (Eastern Cottonmouth, 2003). The snake swims in oceans with its head placed upright outside the water. While in its habitat, the snake is moderately aggressive and only attacks if it is cornered or disturbed.

Abiotic and biotic factors

The cottonmouth is slightly tolerant to salt water since it can also swim in salt water bodies. They also prefer scavenging under full moonlight to increase the visibility of their prey. Predators such as other cottonmouths and American alligators also prey upon the organism.

Conclusion

The eastern cottonmouth also referred to as Agkistrodon piscivorus is a semiaquatic snake inhabiting marshy, swampy, and offshore regions of southeastern states of the US. The organism has a three-stage lifecycle that includes embryo development, juvenile stage, and adulthood. As the snake matures, the heart moves to a relative anterior position to counter interact gravitational disturbances on blood circulation when the organism is in an upright position. Notably, it plays a significant ecological role in converting both marine and terrestrial organisms into nutrients. Lastly, visiting the swampy areas in the southeastern Atlantic coast should not disturb the snakes since they only attack under pressure using their retracted fangs full of hemotoxic venom.

References

Burkett, R. D. (1966). Natural history of cottonmouth moccasin, Agkistrodon piscivorus (Reptilia). Lawrence, KS: University of Kansas. Retrieved from https://www.gutenberg.org/files/38308/38308-h/38308-h.htm#Page_452

Eastern Cottonmouth. (2003). Venombyte. Retrieved from http://www.venombyte.com/venom/snakes/eastern_cottonmouth.asp

Lillywhite, H., & Lillywhite, S. (2017). Ontogenetic shifts of heart position in snakes. Journal of Morphology, 278(8), 1105-1113. Doi: 10.1002/jmor.20697

Lillywhite, H., Pfaller, J., & Sheehy, C. (2015). Feeding preferences and responses to prey in insular neonatal Florida cottonmouth snakes. Journal of Zoology, 297(2), 156-163. Doi: 10.1111/jzo.12256

Rheubert, J., Freeborn, L., Sever, D., Siegel, D., & Gribbins, K. (2014). Agkistrodon piscivorus spermatogenesis addendum: The effect of Hurricane Katrina on spermatogenesis of the western cottonmouth snake. Spermatogenesis, 4(3), e988586. Doi: 10.4161/21565562.2014.988586