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The taxon was described by James Edward Holbrook in 1842, and named in honor of J. H. Couper who brought him the first specimen from south of the Altamaha River in Wayne County, Georgia. The species Drymarchon coraishistorically was considered a monotypic species with 8 to 12 subspecies; including D. c. couperi. In the early 1990’s the eastern indigo snake, Drymarchon corais couperi, was elevated to full species level (Drymarchon couperi), and most herpetologists have adopted this suggestion, including the Society for the Study of Amphibians and Reptiles, in their official names list. Populations of eastern indigo snakes are isolated from their nearest relative, Drymarchon melanurus erebennus, by approximately 1,000 km.
The Latin name for the genus Drymarchon roughly translates to “forest ruler”, from the Greek words drymos, meaning forest, and archon meaning ruler. Eastern indigo snakes have a number of common names: indigo, blue indigo snake, black snake, gopher snake, blue gopher snake, and blue bull snake.
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