Ecology
A new species of venomous sea snake, which is covered from head to tail with prickly scales, has recently been discovered in variable waters north of Australia, scientists said.
Although some types of sea snakes also have prickly scales, but only on their stomachs. No other snake is completely covered in such scales, according to researcher Kanishka Ukuwela, an ecologist at the University of Adelaide.
Snakes are usually covered with smooth scales, but the new snake, named Hydrophis Donaldi, has scales with small, spiny protrusions.
Researchers were combing shallow waters in the Gulf of Carpentaria and came across 9 representatives of this species of prickly snake. “When the first snake was on the deck of our ship, it was already clear that we had something special,” the scientists said. “It was not like any sea snake we had previously known.”
All members of the new species were found on the rocky ocean floor, perhaps this habitat explains the appearance of this snake, which has very strong scales. But scientists are not yet able to say exactly why such scales are observed in reptiles and why they need them.
The new species Hydrophis (which literally means “water snake”) was not seen before, most likely for two reasons. Firstly, the species is very rare, and secondly, it lives in a coastal environment that fishermen avoid, said Ukuwela. Many Australian sea snakes live in the open ocean and are often caught with shrimps.
Little is known about the yellowish-brown reptile so far, only that it is viviparous, like almost all sea snakes, and it is also very poisonous and potentially dangerous to humans, as shown studies, the results of which appeared in late February in the journal Zootaxa.
Moreover, snake venom is just one of the obstacles to studying the snake in detail and revealing all its secrets. It is difficult to monitor the snake in its natural habitat, as the waters where it lives are very muddy, and huge dumb sharks, marine crocodiles and extremely poisonous jellyfish live nearby.
“If we dive into these waters, we'll be able to survive there for a few minutes. The only question is which of these creatures is going to destroy us first. I think that first of all we will fall into the jaws of a shark, “Ukuwela said in detention.