Please use this identifier to cite or link to this item: https://hdl.handle.net/2440/121337
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Type: Journal article
Title: First records of sea snakes (Elapidae: Hydrophiinae) diving to the mesopelagic zone (>200 m)
Author: Crowe-Riddell, J.M.
D'Anastasi, B.R.
Nankivell, J.H.
Rasmussen, A.R.
Sanders, K.L.
Citation: Austral Ecology: a journal of ecology in the Southern Hemisphere, 2019; 44(4):752-754
Publisher: Wiley
Issue Date: 2019
ISSN: 1442-9985
1442-9993
Statement of
Responsibility: 
Jenna M. Crowe-Riddell, Blanche R. D'Anastasi, James H. Nankivell, Arne R. Rasmussen and Kate L. Sanders
Abstract: Viviparous sea snakes (Elapidae: Hydrophiinae) are fully marine reptiles distributed in the tropical and subtropical waters of the Indian and Pacific Oceans. Their known maximum diving depth ranges between 50 and 100 m and this is thought to limit their ecological ranges to shallow habitats. We report two observations, from industry‐owned remotely operated vehicles, of hydrophiine sea snakes swimming and foraging at depths of approximately 250 m in the Browse Basin on Australia's North West Shelf, in 2014 and 2017. These observations show that sea snakes are capable of diving to the dim‐lit, cold‐water mesopelagic zone, also known as the ‘twilight’ zone. These record‐setting dives raise new questions about the thermal tolerances, diving behaviour and ecological requirements of sea snakes. In addition to significantly extending previous diving records for sea snakes, these observations highlight the importance of university‐industry collaboration in surveying understudied deep‐sea habitats.
Keywords: Depth; industry collaboration; North West Shelf; remotely operated vehicles; sea snakes
Rights: © 2019 Ecological Society of Australia
DOI: 10.1111/aec.12717
Grant ID: http://purl.org/au-research/grants/arc/FT130101965
Published version: http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/aec.12717
Appears in Collections:Aurora harvest 8
Zoology publications

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