Natrix

Taxonavigation

Taxonavigation: Colubroidea
Superregnum: Eukaryota Cladus: Amorphea Cladus: Obazoa Cladus: Opisthokonta Cladus: Holozoa Cladus: Filozoa Cladus: Choanozoa Regnum: Animalia Subregnum: Eumetazoa Cladus: ParaHoxozoa Cladus: Bilateria Cladus: Nephrozoa Superphylum: Deuterostomia Phylum: Chordata Cladus: Olfactores Subphylum: Vertebrata Infraphylum: Gnathostomata Cladus: Eugnathostomata Cladus: Osteichthyes Cladus: Sarcopterygii Cladus: Rhipidistia Cladus: Tetrapodomorpha Cladus: Eotetrapodiformes Cladus: Elpistostegalia Cladus: Stegocephali Cladus: Tetrapoda Cladus: Reptiliomorpha Cladus: Amniota Cladus: Sauropsida Classis: Reptilia Cladus: Eureptilia Cladus: Romeriida Cladus: Diapsida Cladus: Neodiapsida Cladus: Sauria Cladus: Lepidosauromorpha Subclassis: Lepidosauria Ordo: Squamata Cladus: Unidentata, Episquamata Cladus: Toxicofera Subordo: Serpentes Cladus: Caenophidia Superfamilia: Colubroidea

Familia: Colubridae
Subfamilia: Natricinae
Genus: Natrix
Species (5): N. astreptophora – N. helvetica – N. maura – N. natrix – N. tessellata

Name

Natrix Laurenti, 1768: 73

Type species: Natrix vulgaris Laurenti, 1768, by subsequent designation by Fleming (1822: 29).

References

Primary references

Laurenti, J.N. 1768. Specimen medicum, exhibens synopsin reptilium emendatam cum experimentis circa venena et antidota reptilium austriacorum, quod authoritate et consensu (In Latin). Joan Thomae: Vienna. 217 pp. BHL Reference page.

Additional references

Rossman, D.A. & Eberle, W.G. 1977. Partition of the genus Natrix, with preliminary observations on evolutionary trends in natricine snakes. Herpetologica 33(1): 34–43. JSTOR Reference page.
Fritz, U., Corti, C. & Päckert, M. 2012. Mitochondrial DNA sequences suggest unexpected phylogenetic position of Corso-Sardinian grass snakes (Natrix cetti) and do not support their species status, with notes on phylogeography and subspecies delineation of grass snakes. Organisms Diversity and Evolution 12(1): 71–80. DOI: 10.1007/s13127-011-0069-8 Reference page.
Kindler, C., Böhme, W., Corti, C., Gvoždík, V., Jablonski, D., Jandzík, D., Metallinou, M., Široký, P. & Fritz, U. 2013. Mitochondrial phylogeography, contact zones and taxonomy of grass snakes (Natrix natrix, N. megalocephala). Zoologica Scripta 42(5): 458–472. DOI: 10.1111/zsc.12018 Reference page.
Pokrant, F., Kindler, C., Ivanov, M., Cheylan, M., Geniez, P., Böhme, W. & Fritz, U. 2016. Integrative taxonomy provides evidence for the species status of the Ibero-Maghrebian grass snake Natrix astreptophora. Biological Journal of the Linnean Society 118(4): 873–888. DOI: 10.1111/bij.12782 Reference page.
Kindler, C., Chèvre, M., Ursenbacher, S., Böhme, W., Hille, A., Jablonski D., Vamberger, M. & Fritz, U. 2017. Hybridization patterns in two contact zones of grass snakes reveal a new Central European snake species. Scientific Reports 7: 7378. DOI: 10.1038/s41598-017-07847-9 Reference page.
Fritz, U. & Schmidtler, J.F. 2020. The Fifth Labour of Heracles: Cleaning the Linnean stable of names for grass snakes (Natrix astreptophora, N. helvetica, N. natrix sensu stricto). Vertebrate Zoology 70(4): 621–665. DOI: 10.26049/VZ70-4-2020-07 Reference page.

Links

Uetz, P., Freed, P., Aguilar, R., F. Reyes, J. Kudera & Hošek, J. (eds.) 2026. Natrix . The Reptile Database. Accessed on 17 September 2025.

Vernacular names

български: Водни змии
Deutsch: Europäische Wassernattern
English: Water and Grass Snakes
ქართული: ანკარა
македонски: Барски змии
Nederlands: Ringslangen
norsk: Vannsnoker
русский: Ужи
українська: Вуж
中文: 水游蛇屬