Crocker's sea snake
Crocker's sea snake (Laticauda crockeri) is a species of venomous snake in the subfamily Laticaudinae of the family Elapidae. The species is native to Oceania.
| Crocker's sea snake | |
|---|---|
Scientific classification  | |
| Domain: | Eukaryota |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Class: | Reptilia |
| Order: | Squamata |
| Suborder: | Serpentes |
| Family: | Elapidae |
| Genus: | Laticauda |
| Species: | L. crockeri |
| Binomial name | |
| Laticauda crockeri Slevin, 1934 | |
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Etymology
The specific name, crockeri, is in honor of American railroad magnate Charles Templeton Crocker (1885-1948), who allowed the California Academy of Sciences to use his yacht, the Zaca, for scientific expeditions.[2]
Geographic range
L. crockeri is endemic to Lake Te-Nggano, a brackish lake on Rennell Island in the Solomon Islands.[3]
Description
L. crockeri is sexually dimorphic, with females growing to be longer and heavier than males.[1] Females may attain a snout-to-vent length (SVL) of 80 cm (31 in), but males may attain only 62 cm (24 in) in SVL.[4] Maximum tail length is about 9 cm (3.5 in) in both sexes.[4]
Conservation status
L. crockeri is currently listed as "Vulnerable" by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) due to the extremely limited distribution of the species.[1]
References
- Lane, A.; Guinea, M. (2010). "Laticauda crockeri ". IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. 2010: e.T11369A3273817. doi:10.2305/IUCN.UK.2010-4.RLTS.T11369A3273817.en. Retrieved 16 November 2021.
- 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. (Laticauda crockeri, p. 61).
- Gill, B.J.; Whitaker, A.H. (2014). "Records of sea-kraits (Serpentes: Laticaudidae: Laticauda) in New Zealand". Records of the Auckland Museum. 49: 39–42. ISSN 1174-9202.
- Species Laticauda crockeri at The Reptile Database www.reptile-database.org.
Further reading
- Slevin JR (1934). "The Templeton Crocker Expedition to Western Polynesian and Melanesian Islands, 1933. Notes on the Reptiles and Amphibians, with the Description of a New Species of Sea-snake". Proceedings of the California Academy of Sciences 21 (15) 183–188. (Laticauda crockeri, new species, p. 186).