In addition, proponents and land managers should refer to the Recovery Plan (where available) or the Conservation Advice (where available) for recovery, mitigation and conservation information.
|EPBC Act Listing Status||Listed marine|
|Adopted/Made Recovery Plans|
|Policy Statements and Guidelines||
Marine bioregional plan for the Temperate East Marine Region (Department of Sustainability, Environment, Water, Population and Communities (DSEWPaC), 2012aa) [Admin Guideline].
Marine bioregional plan for the North Marine Region (Department of Sustainability, Environment, Water, Population and Communities (DSEWPaC), 2012x) [Admin Guideline].
Marine bioregional plan for the North-west Marine Region (Department of Sustainability, Environment, Water, Population and Communities (DSEWPaC), 2012y) [Admin Guideline].
Sea snakes - A Vulnerability Assessment for the Great Barrier Reef (Great Barrier Reef Marine Park Authority (GBRMPA), 2011f) [Admin Guideline].
Federal Register of
Declaration under section 248 of the Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act 1999 - List of Marine Species (Commonwealth of Australia, 2000c) [Legislative Instrument].
|Non-statutory Listing Status||
|Scientific name||Acalyptophis peronii |
This is an indicative distribution map of the present distribution of the species based on best available knowledge. See map caveat for more information.
The current conservation status of the Horned Seasnake, Acalyptophis peronii, under Australian Government legislation, is as follows:
National: Listed as a marine species under the Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act 1999.
Scientific name: Acalyptophis peronii
Common name: Horned Seasnake
The species name is unambiguous and has been stable for many decades (Cogger et al. 1983; Golay et al. 1993).
The Horned Seasnake is a moderately built snake with the head and neck only slightly thinner than the rest of the body. This species may attain one metre in length. The body is cream, grey or pale brown dorsally, with 2530 dark cross-bands which are widest dorsally and taper on the sides. Secondary and incomplete dark bands may be present. Many scales in the lighter coloured areas possess dark centres. The head shields are irregular and may be fragmented with their posterior borders raised and pointed. The posterior margins of the scales above the eye form projections or spines. This condition is most noticeable in adults. Scales are moderately imbricate in the anterior of the body but become juxtaposed in the posterior. Each scale bears a short, often dark, keel that is more pronounced in adult males. Scales form 1923 scale rows at the neck and 2331 rows at the mid body. There are 140210 ventral scales which are about as wide as adjacent body scales. The anal scale is divided. Snout-vent lengths may reach 123 cm (Cogger 1975, 2000).
Seasnakes have nostril valves that prevent air entering the lung while underwater. Nostril valves open inwards and are held shut from behind by erectile tissue engorged with blood (Heatwole 1999).
Seasnakes are able to avoid excess salt accumulation from sea water using a salt excreting gland, the posterior sublingual gland that sits under the tongue. Seasnakes shed their skin every two to six weeks, which is more frequently than land snakes and more often than needed for growth alone. The process involves rubbing the lips against coral or other hard substrate to loosen the skin. The snake then catches the skin against something to anchor it and crawls forward leaving the skin turned inside out behind it. Skin shedding allows seasnakes to rid themselves of fouling marine organisms such as algae, barnacles and bryozoans (Heatwole 1999).
The Horned Seasnake occurs in tropical waters from Barrow Island in Western Australia (Smith 1974; Storr et al. 2002) to Moreton Bay in Queensland (Covacevich & Couper 1991).
The current extent of occurrence is over 1 000 000 kmē and the current area of occupancy is possibly less than 10% of the extent of occurrence (derived from Guinea 2003).
The Horned Seasnake occurs in tropical northern Australia, the Coral Sea Islands including Chesterfield Reefs (Minton & Dunson 1985), New Caledonia (Gail & Rageau 1958; Ineich & Laboute 2002; Ineich & Rasmussen 1997; Laboute & Magnier 1979), the south coast of Papua New Guinea (Brongersma 1956), Thailand (Cox 1991; Taylor 1965) and Hong Kong (Romer 1954; Smith 1926).
The have been no species specific surveys on the Horned Seasnake.
There is no information on population numbers, or population structure and the generation length remains undocumented for the Horned Seasnake. Cross breeding has not been recorded in this species.
Populations of the Horned Seasnake occur in the Ashmore Reef National Nature Reserve and Marine Reserve, the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park, Cartier Island Marine Protected Area and Scott Reef Reserve.
The Horned Seasnake is typically found on sandy substrates (Cogger 2000; Ehmann 1992b; Guinea & Whiting 2005; Ineich & Laboute 2002; McCosker 1975).
In the Gulf of Carpentaria, the highest catch rates of Horned Seasnakes are around Weipa and Karumba. This species is most likely to be caught during the shallowest trawling, at depths of 1120 m (Ward 2000) and in the Gulf of Carpentaria in depths between 3.818.5 m (Redfield et al. 1978).
The ages of sexual maturity, life expectancy and natural mortality for the Horned Seasnake are unknown.
The Horned Seasnake is viviparous and gives birth to up to 10 live young per female (Cogger 2000). The mean number of young is 4.5 (four females were sampled) (Fry et al. 2001). In northern Australia, gestation lasts six to seven months. Females appear to reproduce every year and give birth between March and June (Fry et al. 2001). Milton and Fry (2002) found that 90% of females were pregnant in a sample of Horned Seasnakes obtained between August and November in the Gulf of Carpentaria.
Male seasnakes have two penises (hemipenes), each is an autonomous independently functioning penis but only one is used during mating. Mating takes place for long periods and seasnakes must surface for air during that time. The female controls breathing and as she swims to the surface the male is pulled along attached via the hemipenis. At the surface the male needs to gulp for air or he has to wait until the next time the female comes up the surface to breathe. Males are unable to disengage until mating is finished (Heatwole 1999).
The Horned Seasnake eats fish, particularly gobies (Gobidae: Cryptocentrus and Oxyurichthys) (Glodek & Voris 1982; McCosker 1975; Voris 1972). Ineich and Laboute (2002) state that the Horned Seasnake never eats Crypotcentrus sp., preferring to feed on the gregarious Ptereleotris sp. found in communal burrows, as well as burrow-dwelling shrimp of the genus Alpheus.
Horned Seasnakes forage on the sandy sea floor where they remove Gobies from their burrows and swallow the fish head first (Ineich & Laboute 2002; McCosker 1975; Zimmerman et al. 1994).
Horned Seasnakes sometimes wash ashore in Moreton Bay (near Brisbane), but it is believed that ocean currents carry them there from further north (Limpus 1975). No information is available on the home range of the Horned Seasnake.
The Horned Seasnake is often seen on the surface of the water, especially at night and in the late afternoon (Cogger 1975; Guinea & Whiting 2005). It forages during the day at depths to 60 m in New Caledonia (Ineich & Laboute 2002) and over 40 m at Ashmore Reef (Guinea 1995), but forages in shallower water, between 1015 m, at Chesterfield Reef (Minton & Dunson 1985).
Seasnakes that inhabit coral reefs and lagoons can be surveyed by travelling slowly along transects (for example at about four knots (kn)) in a small boat, and visually identifying snakes observed within 3 m of the path of the boat. Species can be distinguished by this method if the water is up to 3 m deep. A manta board, with an observer, can be towed at a speed of 2 kn over transects of the reef during high and low tide. A thin tow rope 25 m in length enables surveys to be conducted on snorkel to depths in excess of 12 m when the bottom is not visible from the surface (Francis 2006; Guinea 2007).
At low tide, surveys can be done on foot, for example, by searching the reef flat along transects that are 1000 m long and 20 m wide (Guinea & Whiting 2005).
Seasnakes that are swimming on the surface of the water can be captured using a dip net (Porter et al. 1997). In shallow water, such as estuaries, they can also be captured in a seine net (Limpus 1975). Seasnakes that are underwater, and either active or resting, can also be hand-netted by someone who is snorkeling or SCUBA diving, using a cylindrical net 300 mm in diameter and 1700 mm long, with 10 mm mesh. The catcher wears protective gloves and a wet suit, and gently grasps the snake through the mesh at the base of the net, drawing the snake in until the top of the net can be twisted shut (Guinea 2003; Guinea & Whiting 2005). Alternatively, snakes that are resting can be captured by grasping the snake both behind the head and by the mid-body at once. Pillstrom tongs and gloves can be used for this, although mechanical restraint may injure the snake and increase its aggressiveness (Heatwole 1975).
The Horned Seasnake is active during the day and at night (Cogger 2000; Ehmann 1992b; Guinea & Whiting 2005), however, Milton (2001) found that this species was more likely to be captured during trawling at night, than during the day.
Accidental catch of seasnakes during prawn trawling is the major threat to seasnake populations (Heatwole 1997).
The Horned Seasnake is regularly caught during prawn trawling. In studies carried out during the 1970s, it represented 1% of the seasnakes caught during trawling in north-west Australia, 8% in the Arafura Sea, 14% in the Timor Sea, and 13% of species caught during research and prawn trawling in the Gulf of Carpentaria and north-east Queensland (Redfield et al. 1978; Shuntov 1971; Wassenberg et al. 1994). Horned Seasnakes comprised 55% (n = 6) of the samples collected in November 1990 and 1991. On the northern Australian continental shelf, this species forms 9% of the bycatch during fish trawling (Ward 1996a) and 0.7% of the bycatch during Tiger Prawn (Panaeus monodon) and Endeavour Prawn (Metapenaeus endeavouri) trawling (Ward 1996b). However, commercial trawlers in Australia operate in only a small proportion of the habitats occupied by Horned Seasnakes (Ward 2000).
Trawlers that target Tiger and Endeavour Prawns are the major source of seasnake mortality in the Northern Prawn Fishery (NPF) region of northern Australia, taking more than 85% of the bycatch of seasnakes (Wassenberg et al. 2001). Prawn trawlers fishing in the NFP were estimated to have caught between 81 000 and 119 500 seasnakes in 1990-1991 (Wassenberg et al. 2001; Ward 1996) and approximately 50% of those caught in trawls die by drowning or being crushed by the weight of the catch (Wasenberg et al. 2001).
During a survey in between 19951998, Wassenberg and colleagues (2001) found that around half of all seasnakes caught during research and commercial trawling operations died. Trawling that lasted for less than 30 minutes resulted in the death of around 30% of the seasnakes captured in nets, and trawling that lasted more than 180 minutes resulted in the death of around 60% of seasnakes captured. Four of the 44 Horned Seasnakes, captured during prawn trawling, were dead when they were brought onto the trawler, and both snakes that were kept for four days after capture died. None of the snakes caught were visibly damaged.
Their slow reproduction makes all species of seasnakes vulnerable to decline from fishing (Marsh et al. 1993).
Turtle Excluder Devices and Bycatch Reduction Devices
Turtle Excluder Devices (TEDs) are hard grids placed in trawl nets to exclude turtles and other large animals. Bycatch Reduction Devices (BRDs) are escape grids designed to enable smaller animals to swim out of the net. Research into the effectiveness, of both these devices, in reducing bycatch of seasnakes during prawn trawling, has been undertaken. Brewer and colleagues (1998) found that the most effective BRDs, for most seasnakes, were the AusTED and Nordmore grids with square mesh. These devices reduced the rate of seasnake capture from one in every second tow, to one in every four or five tows. Sixteen devices were tested which resulted in capture rates that were similar to standard trawler nets or slightly worse (Brewer et al. 1998).
Milton and Fry (2002) found that the BRD was more effective at reducing the number of seasnakes captured during prawn trawling than either the TED, or a combination of both devices.
Brewer and colleagues (2006) refined the understanding of what role TEDs and BRDs play in a commercial, rather than experimental, setting. Brewer and colleagues (2006) compared seasnake bycatch in nets without devices, with nets fitted with a variety of devices and placements. They found that nets with a combination of TEDs and BRDs reduced the catch of seasnakes by 5% (compared to Brewer and colleagues' (1998) earlier find of nearly 50% reduction in seasnake bycatch). In their study, a total of 774 individual seasnakes, of 12 species, were captured from 442 out of 1427 trawling operations undertaken in the NPF. An estimated 5% fewer seasnakes were caught in nets with TED and BRD gear, compared to nets without any devices, or with TEDs or BRDs alone.
Heales and colleagues (2008) tested the effectiveness of the Yarrow Fisheye Device (a BRD), over two commercial trawling seasons (2004 and 2005). Fisheyes are rigged to enable mobile animals to detect and orient to altered flow and potentially escape through a specially designed opening. A total of 210 seasnakes were caught, in 113 trawls, over the two prawn seasons. During commercial operations, the Yarrow Fisheye reduced the seasnake bycatch by 43.3%.
Milton and colleagues (2008, 2009) found that BRDs have not proved effective at reducing seasnake catch in the NPF when set at the maximum legal distance of 120 meshes from the codend. The NPF has a legal obligation, under the Fisheries Management Act 1991, to avoid captures of threatened and protected species such as seasnakes by using TEDs and BRDs. Milton and colleagues (2008, 2009) re-examined BRD performance at reducing seasnake catch and found an overall 13% improvement in the mean estimated survival rate of seasnakes, between 2003-2006, compared to survival in trawls made before BRDs were introduced in 2000. All species had almost 100% survival in trawls of less than two hours. Milton and colleagues(2008) proposed that if BRDs were adopted by the entire fleet (52 vessels) in the NPF, and the new survival rates were also taken into account, the estimated total mortality of seasnakes in 2007 would be about 13 000 snakes. However, complete adoption by the fishing fleet of the Popeye Fisbox BRD, at 70 meshes from the codend, could further reduce the catch to fewer than 2000 snakes with less than 1.2% of the total fishing mortality of 1991 (Milton et al. 2008, 2009). These are potentially dramatic reductions from earlier mortality estimates of seasnakes removed by the fishery in the early 1990s (Milton et al. 2008).
Fishing vessel numbers
In 2007, there was a major reduction in the size of the NPF fleet and, by 2008, there were only 56 vessels operating, compared with 96 vessels in 2006. This change in the level of fishing effort is likely to further reduce the impact of trawling on seasnakes (Milton et al. 2008).
Marine bioregional plans have been developed for four of Australia's marine regions - South-west, North-west, North and Temperate East. Marine Bioregional Plans will help improve the way decisions are made under the EPBC Act, particularly in relation to the protection of marine biodiversity and the sustainable use of our oceans and their resources by our marine-based industries. Marine Bioregional Plans improve our understanding of Australia's oceans by presenting a consolidated picture of the biophysical characteristics and diversity of marine life. They describe the marine environment and conservation values of each marine region, set out broad biodiversity objectives, identify regional priorities and outline strategies and actions to address these priorities. Click here for more information about marine bioregional plans.
The Horned Seasnake has been identified as a conservation value in the North-west (DSEWPaC 2012y), North (DSEWPaC 2012x) and Temperate East (DSEWPaC 2012aa) marine regions. The "species group report card - marine reptiles" for the North-west (DSEWPaC 2012y), North (DSEWPaC 2012x) and Temperate East (DSEWPaC 2012aa) marine regions provide additional information.
The following documents may inform protection and management:
- East Marine Bioregional Plan: Bioregional Profile: A Description of the Ecosystems, Conservation Values and Uses of the East Marine Region (DEWHA 2009m).
- The North Marine Bioregional Plan: Bioregional Profile: A Description of the Ecosystems, Conservation Values and Uses of the North Marine Region (DEWHA 2008).
- North-West Marine Bioregional Plan: Bioregional Profile: A Description of the Ecosystems, Conservation Values and Uses of the North-West Marine Region (DEWHA 2008b).
The following table lists known and perceived threats to this species. Threats are based on the International Union for Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources (IUCN) threat classification version 1.1.
|Threat Class||Threatening Species||References|
|Biological Resource Use:Fishing and Harvesting Aquatic Resources:Incidental capture and death due to trawling fishing activities||Species threats data recorded on the SPRAT database between 1999-2002 (Department of Sustainability, Environment, Water, Population and Communities (DSEWPaC), 2012i) [Database].|
Brewer, D., D. Heales, D. Milton, Q. Dell, G. Fry, B. Venables & P. Jones (2006). The impact of turtle excluder devices and bycatch reduction devices on diverse tropical marine communites in Australia's northern prawn trawl fishery. Fisheries Research. 81:176-188.
Brewer, D., N. Rawlinson, S. Eayres & C. Burridge (1998). An assessment of bycatch reduction devices in a tropical Australian prawn trawl fishery. Fisheries Research. 36:195-215.
Brongersma, L.D. (1956). Notes on New Guinean reptiles and amphibians V. Proceedings Nederlandse Akademe Wetenschappen. 59C:599-610.
Cogger, H.G. (1975). Sea snakes of Australia and New Guinea. In: Dunson, W.A., ed. The Biology of Sea Snakes. Page(s) 59-139. Baltimore: University Park Press.
Cogger, H.G. (2000). Reptiles and Amphibians of Australia - 6th edition. Sydney, NSW: Reed New Holland.
Cogger, H.G., E.E. Cameron & H.M. Cogger (1983). Amphibia and Reptilia. In: Walton, D.W., ed. Zoological Catalogue of Australia. 1. Netley, South Australia: Griffin Press Limited.
Covacevich, J.A. & P.J. Couper (1991). The reptile records. In: Ingram, G.J. & R.J. Raven, eds. An Atlas of Queensland's Frogs, Reptiles, Birds and Mammals. Page(s) 45-140. Brisbane: Queensland Museum.
Cox, M.J. (1991). The Snakes of Thailand and their Husbandry. Malabar, Florida: Krieger.
Department of the Environment, Water, Heritage and the Arts (DEWHA) (2008). The North Marine Bioregional Plan: Bioregional Profile: A Description of the Ecosystems, Conservation Values and Uses of the North Marine Region. [Online]. Canberra: DEWHA. Available from: http://www.environment.gov.au/resource/north-marine-bioregional-plan-bioregional-profile-description-ecosystems-conservation.
Department of the Environment, Water, Heritage and the Arts (DEWHA) (2008b). North-West Marine Bioregional Plan: Bioregional Profile: A Description of the Ecosystems, Conservation Values and Uses of the North-West Marine Region. [Online]. Canberra: DEWHA. Available from: http://www.environment.gov.au/coasts/mbp/publications/north-west/bioregional-profile.html.
Department of the Environment, Water, Heritage and the Arts (DEWHA) (2009m). The East Marine Bioregional Plan, Bioregional Profile: A Description of the Ecosystems, Conservation Values and Uses of the East Marine Region. [Online]. Available from: http://www.environment.gov.au/coasts/mbp/publications/east/pubs/bioregional-profile.pdf.
Ehmann, H. (1992b). Reptiles. In: Strahan, R., ed. Encyclopedia of Australian Animals. Sydney: Angus & Robertson.
Francis, E.J. (2006). The Morphology, Population and Distribution of the Dusky Sea Snake Aipysurus fuscus (Tschudi, 1837). Hons. Thesis. Darwin: School of Science and Primary Industries, Charles Darwin University.
Fry, G.C., A. Milton & T.J. Wassenberg (2001). The reproductive biology and diet of sea snake bycatch of prawn trawling in northern Australia: characteristics important for assessing the impacts on populations. Pacific Conservation Biology. 7:55-73.
Gail, R. & J. Rageau (1958). Introduction a l'etude des serpents marins (Ophidiens Hydrophiidae) en Nouvelle-Caledonie. Bulletin de la Societe de Pathologie Exotique. 51:448-459.
Glodek, G.S. & H.K. Voris (1982). Marine snake diets: prey composition, diversity and overlap. Copeia. 3:661-666.
Golay, P., H.M. Smith, D.G. Broadley, J.R. Dixon, C. McCarthy, J-C. Rage, B. Schatti & M. Toriba (1993). Endoglyphs and Other Major Venomous Snakes of the World a Checklist. Page(s) 478. Aire-Geneva, Switzerland: Azemiops.
Guinea, M.L. (1995). The sea turtles and sea snakes of Ashmore Reef Nature Reserve. Page(s) 67. Darwin: Northern Territory University.
Guinea, M.L. (2003). Ecology, Systematics and Biogeography of Sea Snakes. Ph.D. Thesis. Darwin: Northern Territory University.
Guinea, M.L. (2007). Survey March 16 - April 2 2007: Sea snakes of Ashmore Reef, Hibernia Reef and Cartier Island with comments on Scott Reef. Final Report to the Department of the Environment and Water Resources, Canberra. Darwin: Charles Darwin University.
Guinea, M.L. & S.D. Whiting (2005). Insights into the distribution and abundance of sea snakes at Ashmore Reef. The Beagle (Supplement 1). Page(s) 199-206.
Heales, D., R. Gregor, J. Wakefore, Y-G. Wang, J. Yarrow & D.A. Milton (2008). Tropical prawn trawl bycatch of fish and seasnakes reduced by Yarrow Fisheye Bycatch Reduction Device. Fisheries Research. 89:76-83.
Heatwole, H. (1975). Attacks by sea snakes on divers. In: Dunson, W.A, ed. The Biology of Sea Snakes. Page(s) 501-515. Baltimore: University Park Press.
Heatwole, H. (1999). Sea Snakes. In: Australian Natural History Series. Page(s) 148. Sydney, NSW: UNSW Press.
Ineich, I. & A.R. Rasmussen (1997). Sea snakes from New Caledonia and the Loyalty Islands (Elapidae, Laticaudinae and Hydrophiinae). Zoosystema. 19 (2-3):185-192.
Ineich, I. & P. Laboute (2002). Sea Snakes of New Caledonia. Paris: IRD and National Museum of Natural History.
Laboute, P. & Y. Magnier (1979). Underwater Guide to New Caledonia. Tahityi: Les Editions Du Pacifique.
Limpus, C.J. (1975). Coastal sea snakes of subtropical Queensland waters (23° to 28° South Latitude). In: Dunson, W. A., ed. The Biology of Sea Snakes. Page(s) 173-182. Baltimore: University Park Press.
Marsh, H., P.J. Corkeron, C.J. Limpus, P.D. Shaughnessy & T.M. Ward (1993). Conserving marine mammals and reptiles in Australia and Oceania. In: C. Moritz & J. Kikkawa, eds. Conservation Biology in Australia and Oceania. Page(s) 225-44. Chipping Norton, NSW: Surrey Beatty & Sons.
McCosker, J.E. (1975). Feeding behaviour of Indo-Australian Hydrophiidae. In: Dunson, W. A., ed. The Biology of Sea Snakes. Page(s) 217-232. Baltimore: University Park Press.
Milton, D, S. Zhou, G. Fry & Q. Dell (2008). Risk assessment and mitigation for sea snakes caught in the Northern Prawn Fishery. FRDC Project 205/051. Final Report. CSIRO Marine and Atmospheric Research. Cleveland, Queensland: CSIRO Marine and Atmospheric Research.
Milton, D.A. (2001). Assessing the susceptibility to fishing of populations of rare trawl bycatch: sea snakes caught by Australia's Northern Prawn Fishery. Biological Conservation. 101:281-290.
Milton, D.A. & G. Fry (2002). Assessment and improvement of BRDs and TEDs in the NPF: a co-operative approach by fishers, scientists, fisheries technologists, economists and conservationists. Fisheries Research and Development Corporation and CSIRO Marine Research. Cleveland, Queensland: CSIRO Marine Research.
Milton, D.A., G.C. Fry & Q. Dell (2009). Reducing impacts of trawling on protected sea snakes: by-catch reduction devices improve escapement and survival. Marine and Freshwater Research. 60:824-832.
Minton, S.A. & W.W. Dunson (1985). Sea snakes collected at the Chesterfield Reefs, Coral Sea. Atoll Research Bulletin. 292:101-108.
Porter, R., S. Irwin, T. Irwin & K. Rodrigues (1997). Records of the marine snake species from the Hey-Embley and Mission Rivers, Far N Qld. Herpetofauna. 27 (2): 2-7.
Redfield, J.A., J.C. Holmes & R.D. Holmes (1978). Sea snakes of the eastern Gulf of Carpentaria. Australian Journal of Marine and Freshwater Research. 29:325-334.
Romer, J.D. (1954). Notes on sea snakes (Hydrophiidae) occurring in or near Hong Kong territorial waters. Hong Kong University Fish Journal. 1:35-37.
Shuntov, V.P. (1971). Sea snakes of the North Australian Shelf. Ekologiya. 4:65-72.
Smith, L.A. (1974). The sea snakes of Western Australia (Serpentes: Elapidae, Hydrophiinae) with a description of a new subspecies . Records Western Australian Museum. 3(2):93-110.
Smith, M.A. (1926). Monograph of the sea-snakes (Hydrophiidae). In: British Museum Natural History. Page(s) 130. London: British Museum.
Storr, G.M., L.A. Smith & R.E. Johnstone (2002). Snakes of Western Australia. Page(s) 309. Perth, Western Australia: Western Australian Museum.
Taylor, E.H. (1965). The serpents of Thailand and adjacent waters. University of Kansas Science Bulletin. 45(9):609-1096.
Voris, H.K. (1972). The role of sea snakes (Hydrophiidae) in the trophic structure of coastal oceanic communities. Journal of the Marine Biological Association of India. 14(2):429-442.
Ward, T.M. (1996a). Sea snake bycatch of fish trawlers on the Northern Australian continental shelf. Marine and Freshwater Research. 47:625-630.
Ward, T.M. (1996b). Sea snake bycatch of prawn trawlers on the Northern Australian continental shelf. Marine and Freshwater Research. 47:631-635.
Ward, T.M. (2000). Factors affecting the catch rates and relative abundance of sea snakes in the by-catch of trawlers targeting tiger and endeavour prawns on the northern Australian continental shelf. Marine Freshwater Research. 51:155-164.
Wassenberg, T.J., D.A. Milton & C.Y. Burridge (2001). Survival rates of sea snakes caught by demersal trawlers in northern and eastern Australia. Biological Conservation. 100:271-280.
Wassenberg, T.J., J.P. Salini, H. Heatwole & J.D. Kerr (1994). Incidental capture of sea-snakes (Hydrophiidae) by prawn trawlers in the Gulf of Carpentaria, Australia. Australian Journal of Marine and Freshwater Research. 45:429-43.
Zimmerman, K.D., H. Heatwole & A. Menez (1994). Sea snakes of the Coral Sea. Herpetofauna. 24(1):25-29.
This database is designed to provide statutory, biological and ecological information on species and ecological communities, migratory species, marine species, and species and species products subject to international trade and commercial use protected under the Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act 1999 (the EPBC Act). It has been compiled from a range of sources including listing advice, recovery plans, published literature and individual experts. While reasonable efforts have been made to ensure the accuracy of the information, no guarantee is given, nor responsibility taken, by the Commonwealth for its accuracy, currency or completeness. The Commonwealth does not accept any responsibility for any loss or damage that may be occasioned directly or indirectly through the use of, or reliance on, the information contained in this database. The information contained in this database does not necessarily represent the views of the Commonwealth. This database is not intended to be a complete source of information on the matters it deals with. Individuals and organisations should consider all the available information, including that available from other sources, in deciding whether there is a need to make a referral or apply for a permit or exemption under the EPBC Act.
Citation: Department of the Environment (2014). Acalyptophis peronii in Species Profile and Threats Database, Department of the Environment, Canberra. Available from: http://www.environment.gov.au/sprat. Accessed Wed, 3 Sep 2014 17:35:45 +1000.