Emydocephalus

Emydocephalus is a genus of sea snakes in the family Elapidae. Unlike most sea snakes, all species of Emydocephalus, have an absence of teeth on their dentary and palatine bones, and lack venom. The dentary and palantine bones bear only a row of papillae. Emydocephalus does, however, bear fangs and many small pterygoid teeth.[2] This reduced dentition is due to their diet consisting almost entirely of fish eggs.

Emydocephalus
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Reptilia
Order: Squamata
Suborder: Serpentes
Family: Elapidae
Subfamily: Hydrophiinae
Genus: Emydocephalus
Krefft, 1869 [1]
Species

Three recognized species, see article.

Etymology

The generic name, Emydocephalus, is from the Greek words ὲμύς (emys) meaning "turtle", and κεφαλή (kephale) meaning "head".[3]

Geographic range

Species of the genus Emydocephalus are found in East Asia, Southeast Asia, and Australasia.[4]

Species

Emydocephalus has three recognized species.

References
  1. "Emydocephalus ". ITIS (Integrated Taxonomic Information System). www.itis.gov.
  2. Voris K., Harold (1966). "Fish Eggs as the Apparent Sole Food Item for a Genus of Sea Snake, Emydocephalus (Krefft)". The Ecological Society of America. 47 – via Wiley.
  3. Stejneger L (1907). Herpetology of Japan and Adjacent Territory. United States National Museum Bulletin 58. Washington, District of Columbia: Smithsonian Institution. xx + 577 pp. (Genus Emydocephalus, p. 413).
  4. Genus Emydocephalus at The Reptile Database
  5. Nankivell, James H.; Goiran, Claire; Hourston, Mathew; Shine, Richard; Rasmussen, Arne R.; Thomson, Vicki A.; Sanders, Kate L. (2020-03-27). "A new species of turtle-headed sea Snake ( Emydocephalus : Elapidae) endemic to Western Australia". Zootaxa. 4758 (1): 141–156. doi:10.11646/zootaxa.4758.1.6. ISSN 1175-5334.

Further reading
  • Goin CJ, Goin OB, Zug GR (1978). Introduction to Herpetology, Third Edition. San Francisco: W.H. Freeman. xi + 378 pp. ISBN 0-7167-0020-4. (Genus Emydocephalus, p. 332).
  • Krefft G (1869). The Snakes of Australia; An Illustrative and Descriptive Catalogue of All the Known Species. Sydney: Thomas Richards, Government Printer. xxv + 100 pp. + Plates I-XII. (Emydocephalus, new genus, p. 92).
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