Grey's mudsnake

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Grey's mudsnake
Scientific classification OOjs UI icon edit-ltr.svg
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Reptilia
Order: Squamata
Suborder: Serpentes
Family: Elapidae
Genus: Ephalophis
M.A. Smith, 1931
Species:
E. greyae
Binomial name
Ephalophis greyae
M.A. Smith, 1931
Synonyms [2]
  • Ephalophis greyi
    M.A. Smith, 1931
  • Ephalophis greyae
    Shea, 1996
  • Ephalophis greyae
    Wallach et al., 2014

Grey's mudsnake (Ephalophis greyae), also known commonly as Grey's sea snake, the mangrove seasnake, and the north-western mangrove sea snake, is a species of venomous snake in the subfamily Hydrophiinae of the family Elapidae. The species is endemic to northwestern Australia. [3]

Contents

Etymology

Its specific name, greyae, has also been spelled greyi; however, it was named after a Beatrice Grey who collected the holotype, [4] necessitating a feminine possessive.

Geographic range

E. greyae is found along the northwestern coast of the Australian state of Western Australia, from Shark Bay to Kimberley Region. [1]

Habitat

The preferred natural habitats of E. greyae are mud flats, salt flats, the marine intertidal zone, and the marine neritic zone, to a depth of 10 m (33 ft). [1]

Description

A small species of sea snake, E. greyae may attain a total length (including tail) of 66 cm (26 in). [2]

Diet

E. greyae preys upon fishes, especially gobies and their eggs. [1]

Reproduction

E. greyae is viviparous. [2]

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References

  1. 1 2 3 4 Lukoschek, V.; Guinea, M.; Milton, D. (2010). "Ephalophis greyae". IUCN Red List of Threatened Species . 2010: e.T176755A7298070. doi: 10.2305/IUCN.UK.2010-4.RLTS.T176755A7298070.en . Retrieved 19 November 2021.
  2. 1 2 3 Species Ephalophis greyae at The Reptile Database www.reptile-database.org.
  3. Australian Biological Resources Study (19 March 2013). "Species Ephalophis greyi Smith, 1931". Australian Faunal Directory. Canberra, Australian Capital Territory: Department of the Environment, Water, Heritage and the Arts, Australian Government. Retrieved 6 October 2017.
  4. Beolens, Bo; Watkins, Michael; Grayson, Michael (2011). The Eponym Dictionary of Reptiles. Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press. xiii + 296 pp. ISBN   978-1-4214-0135-5. (Ephalophis greyae, p. 108).

Further reading