| Aipysurus laevis | |
|---|---|
 | |
Scientific classification  | |
| Domain: | Eukaryota |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Class: | Reptilia |
| Order: | Squamata |
| Suborder: | Serpentes |
| Family: | Elapidae |
| Genus: | Aipysurus |
| Species: | A. laevis |
| Binomial name | |
| Aipysurus laevis | |
Aipysurus laevis is a species of venomous sea snake found in the Indo-Pacific. Its common names include golden sea snake, [3] olive sea snake, and olive-brown sea snake. [1]
A species was first described by Bernard Germain de Lacépède in 1804, assigning it to a new genus Aipysurus . [2] A name published by John Edward Gray, Aipysurus jukesii, is regarded as a synonym for this species. [4]
Currently, two subspecies are recognized, including the nominotypical subspecies described below. [5] The subspecies A. l. pooleorum has been elevated to full species status as A. pooleorum. [6]
| Subspecies [5] | Authority [5] | Common name [3] |
|---|---|---|
| A. l. laevis | Lacépède, 1804 | olive sea snake |
| A. l. pooleorum | L.A. Smith, 1974 | Shark Bay sea snake |
Aipysurus derives from the Greek aipys "high and steep" and oura "tail"; [7] the term loosely meaning "high tail" was coined to denote "the laterally compressed tail that is higher than the depth of the body". [8] Laevis, a variant form of Latin levis, means "smooth". [9] The specific name, pooleorum (masculine, genitive plural), is in honor of Australian fishermen "W. and W. Poole" who collected the holotype. [10]
It is a common, widespread species that lives on coral reefs, including the Great Barrier Reef. [1] It can also be found in the north-eastern Pacific Ocean. [11]
The snake hides in small coves or protective coral areas if not hunting or surfacing to breathe. [12]
The olive sea snake swims using a paddle-like tail. It has brownish and purple scales along the top of its body whilst its underside is a white color. [12] It can grow up to a meter in length, and in some cases up to two meters. [13]
The snake feeds on crustaceans, fish, and fish eggs. [1] It uses venom to incapacitate its prey. This venom is rich in enzymes that facilitate the internal breakdown of the prey, simplifying the digestion process. The venom also affects both the muscles and nerves of the prey. The snake usually hunts in coral reef areas, searching for food by poking its head into crevices. The creature usually stays away from open water as a hunting ground. [14]
Aipysurus laevis has been found to have photoreceptors in the skin of its tail, allowing it to detect light and presumably ensuring it is completely hidden, including its tail, inside coral holes during the day. While other species have not been tested, A. laevis possibly is not unique among sea snakes in this respect. Dermal light sensitivity is found in all the major animal phyla. [15]
While it can be aggressive towards prey, attacks on divers or larger animals are rare, though if provoked it will engage the attacker. [12] The snake's main predators are sharks and ospreys. [13]
Males can reach sexual maturity in their third year, while females do not until their fourth or fifth year. [11] Courtship usually involves a group of males vying for one female, which occurs in open water. At times, divers are approached by male sea snakes, possibly due to male sea snakes mistaking divers for female sea snakes. [16]
Fertilization is internal and gestation lasts for about nine months. Females can give birth up to five young at a time. [11] In rare cases, there can be ten or eleven young at once. [14] Life expectancy of the snake is about fifteen years, sometimes a bit longer. [13]
While there are not many natural threats to the Aipysurus laevis, man-made dangers do exist for it. Prawn trawls are one of the greatest threats for the creature, up to 50% of olive sea snakes caught in trawls are killed, while the ones that survive usually suffer injuries. Death from prawn trawls often comes either from drowning or being crushed. [14]
Elapidae is a family of snakes characterized by their permanently erect fangs at the front of the mouth. Most elapids are venomous, with the exception of the genus Emydocephalus. Many members of this family exhibit a threat display of rearing upwards while spreading out a neck flap. Elapids are endemic to tropical and subtropical regions around the world, with terrestrial forms in Asia, Australia, Africa, and the Americas and marine forms in the Pacific and Indian Oceans. Members of the family have a wide range of sizes, from the 18 cm (7.1 in) white-lipped snake to the 5.85 m king cobra. Most species have neurotoxic venom that is channeled by their hollow fangs, and some may contain other toxic components in various proportions. The family includes 55 genera with around 360 species and over 170 subspecies.
Hydrophiinae is a subfamily of venomous snakes in the family Elapidae. It contains most sea snakes and many genera of venomous land snakes found in Australasia, such as the taipans (Oxyuranus), tiger snakes (Notechis), brown snakes (Pseudonaja) and death adders (Acanthophis).
Acanthophis is a genus of elapid snakes. Commonly called death adders, they are native to Australia, New Guinea and nearby islands, and are among the most venomous snakes in the world. Despite their common name, they are not adders at all and belong to the Elapidae family. The name of the genus derives from the Ancient Greek akanthos/ἄκανθος ('spine') and ophis/ὄφις ('snake'), referring to the spine on the death adder's tail.
Morelia spilota, commonly known as the carpet python, is a large snake of the family Pythonidae found in Australia, New Guinea, Bismarck Archipelago, and the northern Solomon Islands. Many subspecies are recognised; ITIS lists six, the Reptile Database six, and the IUCN eight.
Sea snakes, or coral reef snakes, are elapid snakes that inhabit marine environments for most or all of their lives. They belong to two subfamilies, Hydrophiinae and Laticaudinae. Hydrophiinae also includes Australasian terrestrial snakes, whereas Laticaudinae only includes the sea kraits (Laticauda), of which three species are found exclusively in freshwater. If these three freshwater species are excluded, there are 69 species of sea snakes divided among seven genera.
Hydrophis is a genus of sea snakes, venomous snakes in the subfamily Hydrophiinae of the family Elapidae. Species in the genus Hydrophis are typically found in Indo-Australian and Southeast Asian waters. Currently, around 36 species are recognized as being valid.
Micrurus fulvius, commonly known as the eastern coral snake, common coral snake, American cobra, and more, is a species of highly venomous coral snake in the family Elapidae.The Elapidae family also contains the cobras and sea snakes. The species is endemic to the southeastern United States. It should not be confused with the scarlet snake or scarlet kingsnake, which are harmless mimics. No subspecies are currently recognized.
Sea kraits are a genus of venomous elapid sea snakes, Laticauda. They are semiaquatic, and retain the wide ventral scales typical of terrestrial snakes for moving on land, but also have paddle-shaped tails for swimming. Unlike fully aquatic ovoviviparous sea snakes, sea kraits are oviparous and must come to land to digest prey and lay eggs. They also have independent evolutionary origins into aquatic habitats, with sea kraits diverging earlier from other Australasian elapids. Thus, sea kraits and sea snakes are an example of convergent evolution into aquatic habitats within the Hydrophiinae snakes. Sea kraits are also often confused with land kraits , which are not aquatic.
The black-banded sea krait, also known commonly as the Chinese sea snake, is a largely amphibious species of venomous marine reptile in the subfamily Laticaudinae, family Elapidae. It is found in much of the western Pacific Ocean and some of the Sea of Japan. In Japan, it is known as erabu umi hebi ; in Okinawa, it is known simply as irabu.
Morelia spilota spilota is a subspecies of carpet python, popularly known as the diamond python. It is a medium to large snake, found in coastal areas and adjacent ranges of south-eastern Australia. It is the most southerly occurring python in the world and is found at higher altitudes than any other species of Australian python.
Aipysurus is a genus of venomous snakes in the subfamily Hydrophiinae of the family Elapidae. Member species of the genus are found in warm seas from the Indian Ocean to the Pacific Ocean.
Calliophis bivirgatus is a species of snake in the family Elapidae known commonly as the blue coral snake or blue Malayan coral snake. It is native to Southeast Asia.
White's skink, also known commonly as White's rock skink, is a species of lizard in the family Scincidae. The species is endemic to Australia.
Aipysurus duboisii, also known commonly as Dubois' sea snake and the reef shallows sea snake, is a species of extremely venomous snake in the subfamily Hydrophiinae of the family Elapidae. Its geographic range includes Papua New Guinea, New Caledonia and the northern, eastern and western coastal areas of Australia, that is the Coral Sea, Arafura Sea, Timor Sea and Indian Ocean. It lives at depths up to 80 meters in coral reef flats, sandy and silty sediments which contain seaweed, invertebrates and corals or sponges that can serve as shelter. It preys upon moray eels and various fish that live on the seafloor, up to 110 cm in size. A. duboisii is viviparous, giving birth to live young rather than laying eggs. It displays medium aggressiveness, i.e., will bite if provoked, but not spontaneously. The fangs are 1.8 mm long, which are relatively short for a snake, and the venom yield is 0.43 mg. Aipysurus duboisii is a crepuscular species, meaning that it is most active at dawn and dusk.
Emydocephalus is a genus of sea snakes, also known as turtle-headed sea snakes, in the family Elapidae. The genus is one of a small group of the viviparous sea snakes with Aipysurus. Unlike most sea snakes, the species that make up Emydocephalus lack teeth on their dentary and palatine bones. They also lack venom, making them the only non-venomous elapids. The dentary and palantine bones bear only a row of papillae. Emydocephalus does, however, bear fangs and many small pterygoid teeth. This reduced dentition is due to their diet consisting almost entirely of fish eggs. Due to their prey being small and immobile, they exhibit a foraging strategy different than most snakes, where they forage more frequently but consume smaller quantities.
Aipysurus apraefrontalis, commonly known as the short-nosed sea snake or Sahul reef snake, is a species of venomous sea snake in the family Elapidae, which occurs on reefs off the northern coast of Western Australia. English herpetologist Malcolm Arthur Smith described the species in 1926 from a specimen collected on the Ashmore Reef.
Aipysurus fuscus, commonly known as the dusky sea snake or Timor Reef snake, is a species of sea snake in the family Elapidae. It is found in the Timor Sea between Australia, Indonesia and East Timor and has been classified as endangered.
The slender-necked sea snake, also known commonly as Cogger's sea snake, is a species of marine venomous snake in the subfamily Hydrophiinae of the family Elapidae. The species is native to waters around western Australia and the southern Pacific Ocean.
Aipysurus mosaicus is a species of snake found in coastal seas of Australia. It is commonly known as the mosaic sea snake.
Hydrophis czeblukovi, also known commonly as the fine-spined sea snake, the geometrical sea snake, and the geometrical seasnake, is species of venomous snake in the subfamily Hydrophiinae of the family Elapidae. The species is native to waters off northern Australia.
