Grey's mudsnake

Grey's mudsnake
Conservation status
Least Concern  (IUCN 3.1)[1]
Scientific classification
Domain:	Eukaryota
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Chordata
Class:	Reptilia
Order:	Squamata
Suborder:	Serpentes
Family:	Elapidae
Genus:	Ephalophis M.A. Smith, 1931
Species:	E. greyae
Binomial name
Ephalophis greyae M.A. Smith, 1931
Synonyms[2]
Ephalophis greyi M.A. Smith, 1931 Ephalophis greyae — Shea, 1996 Ephalophis greyae — Wallach et al., 2014

Grey's mudsnake (Ephalophis greyae), also known commonly as Grey's sea snake, the mangrove seasnake, and the north-western mangrove sea snake, is a species of venomous snake in the subfamily Hydrophiinae of the family Elapidae. The species is endemic to northwestern Australia.[3]

Etymology

Its specific name, greyae, has also been spelled greyi; however, it was named after a Beatrice Grey who collected the holotype,[4] necessitating a feminine possessive.

Geographic range

E. greyae is found along the northwestern coast of the Australian state of Western Australia, from Shark Bay to Kimberley Region.[1]

Habitat

The preferred natural habitats of E. greyae are mud flats, salt flats, the marine intertidal zone, and the marine neritic zone, to a depth of 10 m (33 ft).[1]

Description

A small species of sea snake, E. greyae may attain a total length (including tail) of 66 cm (26 in).[2]

Diet

E. greyae preys upon fishes, especially gobies and their eggs.[1]

Reproduction

E. greyae is viviparous.[2]

References

1. Lukoschek, V.; Guinea, M.; Milton, D. (2010). "Ephalophis greyae". IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. 2010: e.T176755A7298070. doi:10.2305/IUCN.UK.2010-4.RLTS.T176755A7298070.en. Retrieved 19 November 2021.
2. Species Ephalophis greyae at The Reptile Database www.reptile-database.org.
3. Australian Biological Resources Study (19 March 2013). "Species Ephalophis greyi Smith, 1931". Australian Faunal Directory. Canberra, Australian Capital Territory: Department of the Environment, Water, Heritage and the Arts, Australian Government. Retrieved 6 October 2017.
4. 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. (Ephalophis greyae, p. 108).

Further reading

• Cogger HG (2014). Reptiles and Amphibians of Australia, Seventh Edition. Clayton, Victoria, Australia: CSIRO Publishing. xxx + 1,033 pp. ISBN 978-0643100350.
• Smith MA (1931). "Description of a new genus of sea-snake from the coast of Australia, with a note on the structures providing for complete closure of the mouth in aquatic snakes". Proc. Zool. Soc. London, Second Series 1931: 397-398. (Ephalophis greyi, new species).
• Shea GM (1996). "Correction of the incorrect original spelling of the species name of a Hydrophiid snake". The Snake 27 (2): 157. (Ephalophis greyae, new spelling).
• Wilson S, Swan G (2013). A Complete Guide to Reptiles of Australia, Fourth Edition. Sydney: New Holland Publishers. 522 pp. ISBN 978-1921517280.