New Caledonian sea krait
The New Caledonian sea krait (Laticauda saintgironsi) is a species of venomous snake in the subfamily Laticaudinae of the family Elapidae. The species is native to the waters around New Caledonia.[1]
| New Caledonian sea krait | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Laticauda saintgironsi | |
Scientific classification  | |
| Domain: | Eukaryota |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Class: | Reptilia |
| Order: | Squamata |
| Suborder: | Serpentes |
| Family: | Elapidae |
| Genus: | Laticauda |
| Species: | L. saintgironsi |
| Binomial name | |
| Laticauda saintgironsi | |
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Etymology
The specific name, saintgironsi, is in honor of French herpetologist Hubert Saint Girons.[3]
Geographic range
L. saintgironsi is endemic to New Caledonia, including the Loyalty Islands.[4] It is very rarely found outside of its native range (one specimen was found in New Zealand in 1925), likely due to Laticauda species tending to spend time onshore or in shallow water, limiting their chance to encounter oceanic currents.[5]
Habitat
The natural habitats of L. saintgironsi are marine, intertidal, and supratidal, from a depth of 80 m (260 ft) to an altitude of 100 m (330 ft).[1]
Description
L. saintgironsi exhibits sexual dimorphism, with females growing larger than males. Maximum recorded snout-to-vent length (SVL) for a male is 81.7 cm (32.2 in). Maximum recorded SVL for a female is 109 cm (43 in). The upper lip is yellow or cream-colored, and the rostral scale is undivided.[2] Specimens can be identified by this yellow upper lip, which is present in both this species and the Yellow-lipped sea krait, and the presence of 21 rows of mid-body scales, compared to the yellow-lipped sea krait's 23 banded rows that meet ventrally.[5]
Diet
The diet of L. saintgironsi consists of non-spiny anguilliform fishes, with the lipspot moray Gymnothorax chilospilus representing about half of the prey.[6]
Parasites
Only a few parasites have been recorded for the New Caledonian sea krait, including camallanid nematodes. [7]
References
- Lane, A. (2010). "Laticauda saintgironsi". IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. 2010: e.T176725A7291181. doi:10.2305/IUCN.UK.2010-4.RLTS.T176725A7291181.en. Retrieved 20 November 2021.
- Cogger, Harold G.; Heatwole, Harold F. (2006). "Laticauda frontalis (de Vis, 1905) and Laticauda saintgironsi n. sp. from Vanuatu and New Caledonia (Serpentes: Elapidae: Laticaudinae) – a new lineage of sea kraits?". Records of the Australian Museum 58: 245-256. (Laticauda saintgironsi, new species, pp. 249-254, Figures 3A & 3B).
- 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 saintgironsi, p. 231).
- Gherghel, Iulian; Papeş, Monica; Brischoux, François; Sahlean, Tiberiu; Strugariu, Alexandru (2016). "A revision of the distribution of sea kraits (Reptilia, Laticauda) with an updated occurrence dataset for ecological and conservation research". ZooKeys (569): 135–148. doi:10.3897/zookeys.569.6975. ISSN 1313-2970. PMC 4829684. PMID 27110155.
- 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.
- Brischoux, François; Bonnet, Xavier; Shine, Richard (2009). "Determinants of dietary specialization: a comparison of two sympatric species of sea snakes". Oikos. 118 (1): 145–151. doi:10.1111/j.1600-0706.2008.17011.x. ISSN 0030-1299.
- Moravec, František; Justine, Jean-Lou (2019). "New species and new records of camallanid nematodes (Nematoda, Camallanidae) from marine fishes and sea snakes in New Caledonia". Parasite. 26: 66. doi:10.1051/parasite/2019068. ISSN 1776-1042. PMC 6865763. PMID 31746732.
- Species Laticauda saintgironsi at The Reptile Database www.reptile-database.org.