Aipysurus duboisii

Aipysurus duboisii
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Reptilia
Order: Squamata
Suborder: Serpentes
Family: Elapidae
Genus: Aipysurus
Species:
A. duboisii
Binomial name
Aipysurus duboisii
Synonyms

Aipysurus australis Sauvage, 1877[4] Pelagophis lubricus W. Peters & Doria, 1878[5]

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.[6][4] It lives at depths up to 80 meters (262 feet) 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 (3.6 feet) in size. A. duboisii is viviparous, giving birth to live young rather than laying eggs.[7][8] It displays medium aggressiveness, i.e., will bite if provoked, but not spontaneously.[9] The fangs are 1.8 mm long, which are relatively short for a snake, and the venom yield is 0.43 mg.[10] Aipysurus duboisii is a crepuscular species, meaning that it is most active at dawn and dusk.[11]

It is the most venomous sea snake, and one of the top three most venomous snakes in the world.[12][13][14]

  1. ^ Lukoschek, V.; Guinea, M.; Milton, D.; Courtney, T.; Fletcher, E. (2010). "Aipysurus duboisii ". IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. 2010: e.T176748A7296594. doi:10.2305/IUCN.UK.2010-4.RLTS.T176748A7296594.en. Retrieved 20 November 2021.
  2. ^ Bavay A (1869). "Catalogue des Reptiles de la Nouvelle-Calédonie et descriptions d'espèces nouvelles ". Mémoires de la Société Linnéenne de Normandie 15:1-37. (Aipysurus duboisii, new species, p. 33). (in French).
  3. ^ "Aipysurus ". Integrated Taxonomic Information System. Retrieved 20 September 2007.
  4. ^ a b "Australian Faunal Directory: Aipysurus duboisii ". biodiversity.org.au. Archived from the original on 2021-10-09. Retrieved 2021-10-27.
  5. ^ Species Aipysurus duboisii at The Reptile Database www.reptile-database.org.
  6. ^ Aipysurus duboisii — Dubois' Seasnake, Australian Department of Sustainability, Environment, Water, Population and Communities
  7. ^ Aipysurus duboisii Bavay, 1869, SeaLifeBase site: UBC - Canada
  8. ^ Heatwole, p. 22.
  9. ^ Heatwole, p. 121.
  10. ^ Cite error: The named reference h115 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  11. ^ Heatwole, p. 40.
  12. ^ Ernst, Carl H.; Zug, George R. [in German] (1996). Snakes in Question: The Smithsonian Answer Book. Washington, District of Columbia: Smithsonian Institution Scholarly Press. ISBN 1-56098-648-4.
  13. ^ Fry, Bryan, Deputy Director, Australian Venom Research Unit, University of Melbourne (March 9, 2002). "Snakes Venom LD50 – list of the available data and sorted by route of injection ". venomdoc.com. (archived) Retrieved October 14, 2013.
  14. ^ The Australian venom research unit (August 25, 2007). "Which snakes are the most venomous?" Archived 2014-06-26 at the Wayback Machine. University of Melbourne. Retrieved October 14, 2013.