''Emydocephalus'' is a

genus Genus (; : genera ) is a taxonomic rank above species and below family (taxonomy), family as used in the biological classification of extant taxon, living and fossil organisms as well as Virus classification#ICTV classification, viruses. In bino ...

sea snake Sea snakes, or coral reef snakes, are Elapidae, elapid snakes that inhabit Marine (ocean), marine environments for most or all of their lives. They belong to two subfamilies, Hydrophiinae and Sea krait, Laticaudinae. Hydrophiinae also includes ...

s, also known as turtle-headed sea snakes, in the

family Family (from ) is a Social group, group of people related either by consanguinity (by recognized birth) or Affinity (law), affinity (by marriage or other relationship). It forms the basis for social order. Ideally, families offer predictabili ...

Elapidae Elapidae (, commonly known as elapids , from , variant of "sea-fish") is a family of snakes characterized by their permanently erect fangs at the front of the mouth. Most elapids are venomous, with the exception of the genus '' Emydocephalus ...

. The genus is one of a small group of the viviparous sea snakes (

Hydrophiinae Hydrophiinae is a subfamily of venomous snakes in the family Elapidae. It contains most sea snakes and many genera of venomous land snakes found in Australasia, such as the taipans (''Oxyuranus''), tiger snakes (''Notechis''), brown snakes (' ...

: Hydrophiini) with ''

Aipysurus ''Aipysurus'' is a genus of venomous snakes in the subfamily Hydrophiinae of the Family (biology), family Elapidae. Member species of the genus are found in warm seas from the Indian Ocean to the Pacific Ocean. Taxonomy The first description of ...

''. Unlike most sea snakes, the

species A species () is often defined as the largest group of organisms in which any two individuals of the appropriate sexes or mating types can produce fertile offspring, typically by sexual reproduction. It is the basic unit of Taxonomy (biology), ...

that make up ''Emydocephalus'' lack teeth on their

dentary In jawed vertebrates, the mandible (from the Latin ''mandibula'', 'for chewing'), lower jaw, or jawbone is a bone that makes up the lowerand typically more mobilecomponent of the mouth (the upper jaw being known as the maxilla). The jawbone ...

and palatine bones. They also lack

venom Venom or zootoxin is a type of toxin produced by an animal that is actively delivered through a wound by means of a bite, sting, or similar action. The toxin is delivered through a specially evolved ''venom apparatus'', such as fangs or a sti ...

, making them the only non-venomous elapids. The dentary and palantine bones bear only a row of papillae. ''Emydocephalus'' does, however, bear fangs and many small pterygoid teeth. This reduced dentition is due to their diet consisting almost entirely of

fish egg An egg is an organic vessel grown by an animal to carry a possibly fertilized egg cell (a zygote) and to incubate from it an embryo within the egg until the embryo has become an animal fetus that can survive on its own, at which point the ...

s. Due to their prey being small and immobile, they exhibit a foraging strategy different than most snakes, where they forage more frequently but consume smaller quantities.

Etymology

The generic name, ''Emydocephalus'', is from the Greek words ὲμύς (emys) meaning "turtle", and κεφαλή (kephale) meaning "head".

Geographic range

Species A species () is often defined as the largest group of organisms in which any two individuals of the appropriate sexes or mating types can produce fertile offspring, typically by sexual reproduction. It is the basic unit of Taxonomy (biology), ...

of the genus ''Emydocephalus'' are found in

East Asia East Asia is a geocultural region of Asia. It includes China, Japan, Mongolia, North Korea, South Korea, and Taiwan, plus two special administrative regions of China, Hong Kong and Macau. The economies of Economy of China, China, Economy of Ja ...

Southeast Asia Southeast Asia is the geographical United Nations geoscheme for Asia#South-eastern Asia, southeastern region of Asia, consisting of the regions that are situated south of China, east of the Indian subcontinent, and northwest of the Mainland Au ...

, and

Australasia Australasia is a subregion of Oceania, comprising Australia, New Zealand (overlapping with Polynesia), and sometimes including New Guinea and surrounding islands (overlapping with Melanesia). The term is used in a number of different context ...

Species

''Emydocephalus'' has three recognized species. *'' Emydocephalus annulatus'' - turtle-headed sea snake, egg-eating sea snake *'' Emydocephalus ijimae'' - turtlehead sea snake *'' Emydocephalus orarius''

References

External links

''Emydocelpahus'' at Life is Short, but Snakes are Long
{{Taxonbar, from=Q152320 Snake genera Taxa named by Gerard Krefft

Etymology

Geographic range

Species

References

Further reading

External links