AUSTRALIAN BIODIVERSITY RECORD - Calodema

Australian Biodiversity Record, 2007 (8): 1-124The Sea Snakes of AustraliaFamily AipysuridaeGenus Aipysurus Lacepede, 1804Aipysurus Lacépède, B.G.E. (1804). Ann. Mus. Natl Hist. Nat. Paris 4: 184-211 [p. 210]. Typespecies: Aipysurus laevis Lacépède, 1804 by monotypy.Aspisurus Gray, J.E. (1841): In: Grey, G. Journals of Two Expeditions of Discovery in Northwestand Western Australia… Vol. 2 [p. 433] [non Aspisurus Lacépède, 1802; lapsus proAipysurus Lacépède, 1804].Aepyurus Agassiz, L. (1846). Nomenclatoris Zoologici [p. 9] [emend. pro Aipysurus Lacépède,1804].Hypotropis Gray, J.E. (1846): Ann. Mag. Nat. Hist. 18: 284 [284]. Type species: Hypotropisjukesii Gray, 1846 by monotypy.Diagnosis: A genus of very large and robust-bodied marine snakes of the Family Aipysuridae,readily separated from all other genera by the following combination of characters: Headshields large and symmetrical with only minor partial fragmentation posteriorly; prefrontalspresent, and occasionally divided; frontal usually divided; supraoculars divided; parietalsdivided; preoculars present (usually 1-2 (rarely 3); nasal not contacting preocular, separatedby the presence of a loreal; nasals in contact; 2-3 (rarely 1) postoculars; temporals small;supralabials 8-10; posterior chin-shields small and separated by one or more small scales;portion of rostral scale bearing median, valve-like fold sometimes separated from remainderof scale by suture; valvular nostrils and lingual fossa; body scales smooth in females andimbricate and in about 20-25 rows at mid-body; ventrals about 140-160; ventrals large andextending about half way across belly, and each about three times as wide as adjacent bodyscales; ventrals with a median keel and a posterior notch (but smooth in females); analdivided; subcaudals around 20-40 entire; tail strongly compressed vertically, paddle-like, witha unique photoreceptor just anterior to the tip; venom apparatus advanced and highly toxic;ovoviviparous. Etymology: The name Aipysurus means ‘high tail’ (from the Greek, ‘aipys’ -high, and ‘ura’ - tail, and refers to the typical sea snake laterally flattened tail shape. Content:Aipysurus laevis Lacepede, 1804; Aipysurus pooleorum Smith, 1974.Aipysurus laevis Lacepede, 1804Aipsurus laevis Lacépède, B.G.E. (1804). Ann. Mus. Natl Hist. Nat. Paris 4: 184-211 [p. 210pl. 56 fig 3]. Type data: Neotype WAM R22384. Subsequent designation: Smith, L.A. (1974):Rec. West. Aust. Mus. 3: 93-110 [p. 99]. Type locality: near Locker Is., off Onslow, WA[21º44'S 114º46'E].Hypotropis jukesii Gray, J.E. (1846): Ann. Mag. Nat. Hist. 18: 284 [p. 284]. Type data:holotype BMNH 1946.1.9.53. Type locality: nr Darnley Island, Torres Strait (as - nr DarnleyIls, Port Essington), QLD.Aipsurus fuliginosus Duméril, A.M.C., Bibron, G. and Duméril, A. (1854): Erpét. Gén. Hist.Nat. Compl. Reptiles. Roret, Paris [p. 1327 pl. 77 fig. 1]. Type data: holotype MNHP 639.Type locality: New Caledonia.Description: This is one the largest and bulkiest of the sea snakes at its full size, but evenwhen only average-sized, specimens are robust-bodied, with a short and deep head that isindistinct from the neck. Its colouration is highly variable with the base colour ranging frompale yellowish-brown through olive green to dark purple on the upper body. There is bothsexual and ontogenetic colour and pattern variation in this species. At birth, juveniles aremarked with a series of pale and dark bands, but as they mature, the pattern fades to a moreuniform colouration. In some a pattern of scattered darker brown or black body scales amonglarger creamish scales may form a weak lateral blotching or partial reticulum effect along the4