Poisonous sea serpent reappeared as extinct over 20 years ago chronicle

Nail very poisonous sea snake given to be extinguished by scientists he was sighted again in Australia.

On April 12, the reptile was ‘rediscoveredat a depth of 67 meters on Ashmore Reef, a place where their sightings were regular until the 1970s, when their numbers declined.

It is a short-nosed sea serpent (‘Aipysurus apraefrontalis’), a rare endemic species last detected in 1998, reports local network ABC.

Is brown snake with short pointed head was discovered by scientists aboard a research vessel equipped with “advanced robotic technologies” while studying a seashell on the seabed, explained the researcher Blanche D’Anastasi, from the Australian Institute of Marine Sciences.

The coral reef, located about 200 miles off the northwest coast of Australia, was home to one of the largest colonies of sea snakes in the world, but those populations began to decline sharply for no apparent cause.

By 2012, a total of 17 species had disappeared from the reef, D’Anastasi said.

The short-nosed sea snake is the third of 17 sea snakes that are said to have “faded away” which were rediscovered by the expedition of the research vessel Falkor, belonging to the Schmidt Ocean Institute.

‘Aipysurus apraefrontalis’ it is a poisonous species that can reach 60 cm in length. It belongs to the “Elapidae” family, a group whose members are characterized by their short, hollow and fixed fangs. which includes terrestrial species such as the taipan, the common deadly viper (“Acanthophis antarcticus”, one of the most poisonous land snakes in the world) and the cobra.