''Aipysurus laevis'' is a species of

venomous Venom or zootoxin is a type of toxin produced by an animal that is actively delivered through a wound by means of a bite, sting, or similar action. The toxin is delivered through a specially evolved ''venom apparatus'', such as fangs or a sti ...

sea snake 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, wher ...

found in the

Indo-Pacific The Indo-Pacific is a vast biogeographic region of Earth. In a narrow sense, sometimes known as the Indo-West Pacific or Indo-Pacific Asia, it comprises the tropical waters of the Indian Ocean, the western and central Pacific Ocean, and the ...

. Its common names include golden sea snake, olive sea snake, and olive-brown sea snake. 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. It can grow up to a meter in length, and in some cases up to two meters. While it can be aggressive towards prey, attacks on divers or larger animals are usually rare, though if provoked it will engage the attacker. The snake's main predators are sharks and

osprey The osprey (''Pandion haliaetus''), , also called sea hawk, river hawk, and fish hawk, is a diurnal, fish-eating bird of prey with a cosmopolitan range. It is a large raptor reaching more than in length and across the wings. It is brown o ...

s. It is a common, widespread species that lives on

coral reef A coral reef is an underwater ecosystem characterized by reef-building corals. Reefs are formed of colonies of coral polyps held together by calcium carbonate. Most coral reefs are built from stony corals, whose polyps cluster in groups. Co ...

s, including the

Great Barrier Reef The Great Barrier Reef is the world's largest coral reef system composed of over 2,900 individual reefs and 900 islands stretching for over over an area of approximately . The reef is located in the Coral Sea, off the coast of Queensland, ...

. It can also be found in the north-eastern Pacific Ocean. The creature hides in small coves or protective coral areas if not hunting or surfacing to breathe. It feeds on crustaceans, fish, and fish eggs. It uses venom to incapacitate its prey. This snake in particular has venom that contains enzymes which break down the prey from within for easier digestion. The venom also affects both the muscles and nerves of the prey and drop-for-drop it is the most toxic sea snake venom. 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. ''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. Males can reach sexual maturity in their third year, while females do not until their fourth or fifth year. 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. Fertilization is internal and gestation lasts for about nine months. Females can give birth up to five young at a time. In rare cases there can be ten or eleven young at once. Life expectancy of the snake is about fifteen years, sometimes a bit longer. While there are not many 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.

Taxonomy

A species first described by

Bernard Germain de Lacépède Bernard-Germain-Étienne de La Ville-sur-Illon, comte de Lacépède or La Cépède (; 26 December 17566 October 1825) was a French naturalist and an active freemason. He is known for his contribution to the Comte de Buffon's great work, the ...

in 1804, assigning it to a new genus ''

Aipysurus ''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. Taxonomy The first description of the genus ''Aipysu ...

''. A name published by

John Edward Gray John Edward Gray, FRS (12 February 1800 – 7 March 1875) was a British zoologist. He was the elder brother of zoologist George Robert Gray and son of the pharmacologist and botanist Samuel Frederick Gray (1766–1828). The same is used for ...

, ''Aipysurus jukesii'', is regarded as a synonym for this species. Currently, two

subspecies In biological classification, subspecies is a rank below species, used for populations that live in different areas and vary in size, shape, or other physical characteristics (morphology), but that can successfully interbreed. Not all species ...

are recognized, including the

nominotypical subspecies In biological classification, subspecies is a rank below species, used for populations that live in different areas and vary in size, shape, or other physical characteristics (morphology), but that can successfully interbreed. Not all species ...

described here. The subspecies ''A. l. pooleorum'' has been elevated to full species status as ''A. pooleorum''.

Etymology

''Aipysurus'' derives from the

Greek Greek may refer to: Greece Anything of, from, or related to Greece, a country in Southern Europe: *Greeks, an ethnic group. *Greek language, a branch of the Indo-European language family. **Proto-Greek language, the assumed last common ancestor ...

''aipys'' "high and steep" and ''oura'' "tail"; the term loosely meaning "high tail" was coined to denote "the laterally compressed tail that is higher than the depth of the body". ''Laevis'', a variant form of

Latin Latin (, or , ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally a dialect spoken in the lower Tiber area (then known as Latium) around present-day Rome, but through the power of the ...

''levis'', means "smooth"., The specific name, ''pooleorum'' (masculine, genitive plural), is in honor of Australian fishermen "W. and W. Poole" who collected the

holotype A holotype is a single physical example (or illustration) of an organism, known to have been used when the species (or lower-ranked taxon) was formally described. It is either the single such physical example (or illustration) or one of several ...

References

External links

* * {{Taxonbar, from=Q2715097 laevis Snakes of Australia Reptiles described in 1804

Taxonomy

Etymology

See also

References

Further reading

External links