Crocker's sea snake

Crocker's sea snake
Conservation status
Vulnerable  (IUCN 3.1)[1]
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

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.

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 Tegano, 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

1. 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.
2. 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).
3. Gill, B.J.; Whitaker, A.H. (2014). "Records of sea-kraits (Serpentes: Laticaudidae: Laticauda) in New Zealand". Papahou: Records of the Auckland Museum. 49: 39–42. ISSN 1174-9202. JSTOR 43264621. Wikidata Q58629017.
4. 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).