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Aipysurus eydouxii (GRAY, 1849)

IUCN Red List - Aipysurus eydouxii - Least Concern, LC
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Higher TaxaElapidae (Hydrophiinae), Colubroidea, Caenophidia, Alethinophidia, Serpentes, Squamata (snakes)
Subspecies 
Common NamesE: Spine-tailed seasnake 
SynonymTomogaster eydouxii GRAY 1849: 59
Thalassophis anguillaeformis SCHMIDT 1852
Thalassophis muraeneformis SCHMIDT 1852
Thalassophis muraenaeformis [sic] SCHMIDT 1852 (fide HALLERMANN 1998)
Aipysurus margaritophorus BLEEKER 1858
Aipysurus eydouxii — WALL 1909: 189
Aipysurus eydouxi — SMEDLEY 1931: 54
Aepyurus [sic] eydouxii — SMITH 1943: 445
Aipysurus eydouxii — SMITH 1974: 101
Aipysurus eydouxii — MURPHY, COX & VORIS 1999
Aipysurus eydouxii — COGGER 2000: 702
Aipysurus eydouxii — NGUYEN et al. 2009
Aipysurus eydouxii — WALLACH et al. 2014: 22 
DistributionSouth Chinese Sea,
Gulf of Thailand, Cambodia, Indonesia (Borneo), W Malaysia, Vietnam, Papua New Guinea, Singapore,
Australia (Thursday Island, Torres Strait)

Type locality: Indian Ocean  
Reproductionovovivparous 
TypesHolotype: BMNH 1946.1.6.86, formerly MNHN. 
DiagnosisAdditional details, e.g. a detailed description or comparisons (665 characters), are available for collaborators and contributors. Please contact us for details. 
CommentVenomous!

Synonymy after COGGER 1983. Note that Australian populations are now called Aipysurus mosaicus SANDERS et al. 2012.

Distribution: Boulenger (1896) lists this species for the Philippines but no specimens have been collected to confirm this claim [SANDERS et al. 2012]. Not listed by Zhao 2006 for China.

Habitat: marine and freshwater (Rasmussen et al. 2001).

Diet: feeds almost exclusively on fish eggs. 
EtymologyNamed after Joseph Fortune Theodore Eydoux (1802-1841), a French naturalist who became a naval surgeon (1821). He was a member of the crew of La Bonite,which circumnavigated the globe (1836-1837) just after Charles Darwin returned. 
References
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  • Borczyk B, Paśko Ł, Kusznierz J, Bury S. 2021. Sexual dimorphism and skull size and shape in the highly specialized snake species, Aipysurus eydouxii (Elapidae: Hydrophiinae). PeerJ 9:e11311 - get paper here
  • Cogger, H.G. 2000. Reptiles and Amphibians of Australia, 6th ed. Ralph Curtis Publishing, Sanibel Island, 808 pp.
  • FIGUEROA, ALEX; MARTYN E.Y. LOW, KELVIN K.P. LIM 2023. Singapore’s herpetofauna: updated and annotated checklist, history, conservation, and distribution. Zootaxa 5287 (1): 001–378 - get paper here
  • Gray, J. E. 1849. Catalogue of the specimens of snakes in the collection of the British Museum. Edward Newman, London, i-xv; 1-125. - get paper here
  • Hallermann, J. 1998. Annotated catalogue of the type specimens of the herpetological collection in the Zoological Museum of the University of Hamburg. Mitt. hamb. zool. Mus. Inst 95: 197-223.
  • Kharin, V. E. 1981. A review of sea snakes of the genus Aipysurus (Serpentes, Hydrophiidae). Zoological Zhurnal 60 (2): 257-264
  • Kharin, V.E.; Cheblyukov, V.P. 2006. On a new record of a poorly known and rare sea snake Aipysurus tenuis Lönnberg et Andersson, 1913 (Serpentes: Hydrophiidae) in the waters of Australia. Russian Journal of Marine Biology 32 (3): 194-197. - get paper here
  • Kharin, Vladimir E.; Jakob Hallermann 2009. Annotated catalogue of sea kraits (Laticaudidae) and sea snakes (Hydrophiidae) of the herpetological collection of the Zoological Museum, University of Hamburg. Mitt. hamb. zool. Mus. Inst. 106: 51-67
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  • RASMUSSEN, ARNE REDSTED; JOHAN ELMBERG, PETER GRAVLUND & IVAN INEICH 2011. Sea snakes (Serpentes: subfamilies Hydrophiinae and Laticaudinae) in Vietnam: a comprehensive checklist and an updated identification key. Zootaxa 2894: 1–20 - get paper here
  • SANDERS, KATE L.; ARNE R. RASMUSSEN, JOHAN ELMBERG, MUMPUNI, MICHAEL GUINEA, PETER BLIAS, MICHAEL S.Y. LEE & BRYAN G. FRY 2012. Aipysurus mosaicus, a new species of egg-eating sea snake (Elapidae: Hydrophiinae), with a redescription of Aipysurus eydouxii (Gray, 1849). Zootaxa 3431: 1–18 - get paper here
  • Shine, Richard; Claire Goiran, Catherine Shilton, Shai Meiri, Gregory P Brown 2019. The life aquatic: an association between habitat type and skin thickness in snakes. Biological Journal of the Linnean Society, blz136 - get paper here
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