Sunday, February 2, 2020

Species Profile: Leaf-scaled Sea Snake

Hello again, welcome back to animals under threat. Today, we will be covering a species of sea snake that has become critically endangered due to climate change. Please give a warm welcome to the Leaf-scaled Sea Snake (Aipysurus foliosquama).

The Leaf-scaled Sea Snake belongs to the Elapidae family which is the family for venomous snakes such as Cobras, Kraits etc. This snake species is characterized by their reddish brown/purplish dorsal surface with pale cross-bands. The head of the snake has large scales which are symmetrical and large overlapping scales which covers the body giving the scales the appearance of leaves. Leaf-scaled Sea Snakes prefer to live in swallow waters and coral reefs and can live groups or are solitary (Environment.gov, 2020).

Picture of Leaf-scaled Sea Snake by Harold Cogger.

The diet of the Leaf-scaled Sea Snake is currently unknown as many scientists continue to debate on the theory that it may eat fish that live on the reef or other sea snakes (theconversation.com, 2020). There are currently no publish studies about the reproduction rate or mating system of this species making difficult to estimate the population size (animaldiversity, 2020).

The Leaf-scaled Sea Snake is under threat due to climate change and its impact on the snake’s habitat. Increasing temperatures has led to coral bleaching which affect the snake’s ability to hide from predators and prey leading to a decrease in the population from over predation and starvation although this is still been debated by scientists (Lukoschek & Guinea, 2010).

Next time, we will be covering a species of salamander nicknamed the “Mexican walking fish”.


References
https://animaldiversity.org/accounts/Aipysurus_foliosquama/ retrieved 3/02/20

http://www.environment.gov.au/cgi-bin/sprat/public/publicspecies.pl?taxon_id=1118 retrieved 3/02/20

Lukoschek, V. & Guinea, M. 2010. Aipysurus foliosquama . The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species 2010: e.T176714A7288783.

http://theconversation.com/australian-endangered-species-sea-snakes-12054 retrieved 3/02/20

Picture references
http://www.environment.gov.au/cgi-bin/sprat/public/publicspecies.pl?taxon_id=1118 retrieved 3/02/20

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