Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Can someone tell me the difference – if any, between Florida Kings and Brooksi….?

I’ve poked around on the internet and the best I can find is that Florida Kings were once called Brooksi , but are no longer recognized as such……

What confuses me, is seeing a breeder or seller list both Floridana and Brooksi as different animals……

Help me please…..

byron.

Basically, they're all Floridana. Kings from extreme southern Florida tend to have a lighter coloring than those from more northward. These were once considered to be a seperate subspecies and called Brooksi. It's now believed that these aren't a true subspecies, but just a regional color variation. Most dealers,breeders, etc. still list the lighter colored individuals as Brooksi just to differentiate from the darker kings. Hope this helps you out.

Todd

The so-called "Brooksi" or "South Florida" King is the real Florida Kingsnake and is Lampropeltis getula floridana. It is native to the southwest portion of the Florida peninsula.

What is called, by most, the "Florida" King is an intergrade between L. g. floridana and the Eastern Kingsnake; L. g. getula. This, according to the Peterson Field Guide, is properly referred to as the "Peninsula Intergrade"
Also, the Apalachicola King (aka "Goini" and "Blotched" is also an intergrade between the same two species. I think (but I am not positive) that this is called the "Panhandle intergrade".

Do yourself a favor: By the Peterson Field Guide to (?)Eastern Reptiles and Amphibians.

What is going to get more confusing than this is the new "Pantherophis" genus name to replace "Elaphe"!

Peter Jolles

P.S. I have read all of this in that $20.00 book (which is my favorite book since I was a small child) so please don't read into this that I am a "know-it-all".

wish they had grammer check....

I think there are Florida kings from the northern part of their range that are darker than what we call "Brooksi", but are still Floridana . As you travel even further up the Florida peninsula you run into the "Peninsular Intergrades." The taxonomy in the panhandle with the whole "Apalachicola", "Goins", "Blotched" king is a whole other story, which would make a great discussion in itself.

Todd

n/p

Peter's post above is excellent, and from what I've read - not only in Peterson, but in several other books - is right on the money. Definitely a confusing issue! What breeders/dealers advertize as "Florida King" could be either a Peninsula intergrade (L. g. floridiana x getula), or simply a relatively dark "Brooksi" (L. g. floridiana). IMO there's a lot of gray area here, but perhaps some of the breeders/dealers can clear it up some.
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MichaelB

... I think it is anyway. I don't think the difference between a brooks king and a florida king is any greater than the difference between a miami phase corn and an okeetee corn. In fact, there's probably less difference. The whole eastern king intergrade theory is a joke... I think so anyway. Other than darker coloration, I don't see anything in Florida kings that distinguishes them from Brooksi... I have seen WC brooks that didn't look any different from typical Floridana. Believe what you want though.

I stand corrected - "foxturtle" disagrees with the Peterson Field Guide so it MUST be wrong. LOL.

Pa-Lease.

Peter Jolles

There are real eastern/florida king intergrades found in Pinellas county northeast to Jacksonville, and they look like intergrades. With the exception of a couple localites, high yellow/light colored FL kings can be found throughout their entire range.

There are quite a few unique localities for Florida kings... Glades county kings have a black ground color, and usually no speckling. Some areas of Palm Beach County that I have hunted have kings with small creamish speckles, while other areas they have larger speckles (take up more space on the scales) and they're yellowish/brownish. Some localities of Florida kings are black/white, while others are yellow/brown, etc... The intergrades near Jacksonville are light colored just like what you'd call a brooks. Even most of the kings from Dade County which is supposed to be the range of true brooks kings are brownish colored and look just like normal Florida kings, there were just more lighter colored kings in that area.

I'd like to see a better reason as to why a brooks king is the real, pure Florida king and all the rest of what was Floridana are intergrades. You know, a better reason than it being stated in the Peterson Guide.

Yes, and see as well, provided it is in this forum...

hahahaha....

Nick, were you in Daytona last season? Will you be attending this year?

Rich Hebron

I was at Daytona on Saturday last year... I should be attending this year. I have a guaranteed ride there, so I have no excuse. Sorry I haven't gotten back to your emails, my last week has been very busy with work. I never did end up going to the Orlando show... did you make it out there?

Nick

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that makes it much easier to understand.

byron.