Aipysurus apraefrontalis, commonly known as the short-nosed sea-snake or Sahel reef snake is from the Elapidae family it has not been seen since 2000!!Populations are in serious decline and are critically endangered!!

Kingdom:Animalia

Phylum:Chordata

ClassRreptilia

Order:Squamata

Family:Elapidae

Genus:Aipysurus 

Species:Apraefrontalis

Habitat

It is estimated to occupy a combined area of 10 square km, and is restricted to the Ashmore reef and Hibernian Reefs off the coast of northern Western Australia. The species is mostly found in water more than 10m deep

Description

The short-nosed sea snake grows up to 60cm long, is relatively slender and has a small head. The species is brown in colour with purple to brown patterns, and scales on the body overlap one another. The sea snake sheds its skin every two to six weeks, and rids excess salt from the sea water through a gland that is located under the tongue

Like other sea snakes, the species must come to the surface to breathe; however, it can spend up to two hours under water. Gas (oxygen/carbon dioxide) exchange is managed by the snake's single lung, which is nearly the length of its body.

In addition, the snake is capable of cutaneous respiration, where tiny blood vessels in the skin absorb oxygen from the sea water and diffuse out carbon dioxide. The nostril valves open inwards, and are held shut while underwater by erectile tissue.

It is thought the species has a life span of 8-10 years, with a generation length of around five years. Eels and small fish make up the sea snake's diet.

Diet

The few diet records available for Short-nosed sea snakes suggest they might prey mostly on eels.Small fish are well…appropriate in size for all sea snakes

Life cycle

I could not find any info on it's "life cycle", all I could find was this…"The snake gives birth to live young, with a gestation period of six to seven months."

Threat

Populations of short-nosed sea snakes are declining at rates of around 90 per cent; however, the demise of the species has not been attributed to one particular cause. Global warming has certainly affected the species' habitat, with coral bleaching occurring in reefs due to the warming of the ocean. In addition, there is a possibility that the ocean temperature has exceeded the snake's tolerance level, which is believed to be 36°C.

Commercial prawn fishing is also believed to affect sea snake populations. The Northern Prawn Fishery operates in the vicinity of reefs that sea snakes inhabit, and accidental capture of sea snakes often results in death or injury to the species. The low reproduction rate adds to the species' vulnerability.

Aipysurus apraefrontalis, commonly known as the short-nosed sea snake or Sahul reef snake, is a critically endangeredspecies of venomous sea snake in the family Elapidae, which occurs on reefs off the northern coast of Western Australia. English herpetologist Malcolm Arthur Smith described the species in 1926 from a specimen collected on the Ashmore Reef.

There are no specific plans to address the decline of the short-nosed seas snake. Nevertheless, Ashmore Reef has been a nature reserve since 1983, and a marine bioregional plan has been developed for the north-west region. From 2007 onwards, the Northern Prawn Fishery reduced the amount of fishing vessels from 96 to 56, which is expected to reduce the impact of commercial trawling on sea snake populations.

Continued surveys of the short nosed sea snakes are vital. These should focus on Ashmore and Hibernia reefs, but should also include coastal reefs where the Short-nosed sea snake has been recorded and might still exist.

We need a better understanding of environmental and direct human threats to short nosed sea snakes or any sea snake. First, environmental conditions on Ashmore and Hibernia reefs should be compared to reefs that still support healthy numbers of sea snakes. Studies of the impact of seismic air gunning on sea snakes are also urgently needed and will soon be underway.