Slender-necked sea snake

The slender-necked sea snake (Hydrophis coggeri), also known commonly as Cogger's sea snake, is a species of marine venomous snake in the subfamily Hydrophiinae of the family Elapidae. The species is native to waters around western Australia and the southern Pacific Ocean.

slender-necked sea snake
Conservation status
Least Concern  (IUCN 3.1)[1]
Scientific classification
Domain:	Eukaryota
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Chordata
Class:	Reptilia
Order:	Squamata
Suborder:	Serpentes
Family:	Elapidae
Genus:	Hydrophis
Species:	H. coggeri
Binomial name
Hydrophis coggeri (Kharin, 1984)
Synonyms[2]
Leioselasma coggeri Kharin, 1984 Hydrophis coggeri — Bauer & Vindum, 1990

Etymology

The specific name, coggeri, is in honor of Australian herpetologist Harold Cogger.^[3]

Geographic range

H. coggeri is found in marine waters around Fiji, the Loyalty Islands, New Caledonia, and western Australia. The type locality is in Fiji.^[2]

Habitat

The preferred natural habitats of H. coggeri are coral reefs and seagrass beds, to a depth of 45 m (148 ft).^[1]

Diet

H. coggeri preys upon eels.^[1]

Reproduction

H. coggeri is viviparous.^[2] A gravid female was found to contain three embryos.^[1]

References

1. Rasmussen, A.; Sanders, K.; Lukoschek, V.; Guinea, M.; Courtney, T. (2010). "Hydrophis coggeri ". IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. 2010: e.T176743A7295429. doi:10.2305/IUCN.UK.2010-4.RLTS.T176743A7295429.en. Retrieved 20 November 2021.
2. Hydrophis coggeri at the Reptarium.cz Reptile Database. Accessed 10 January 2019.
3. Beolens, Bo; Watkins, Michael; Grayson, Michael (2011). The Eponym Dictionary of Reptiles. Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press. xiii + 296 pp. ISBN 978-1-4214-0135-5. ("Cogger's Sea Snake Hydrophis coggeri ", p. 56).

Further reading

• Cogger HG (2014). Reptiles and Amphibians of Australia, Seventh Edition. Clayton, Victoria, Australia: CSIRO Publishing. xxx + 1,033 pp. ISBN 978-0643100350.
• Wilson S, Swan G (2013). A Complete Guide to Reptiles of Australia, Fourth Edition. Sydney: New Holland Publishers. 522 pp. ISBN 978-1921517280.
• Kharin V (1984). "[A review of sea snakes of the group Hydrophis sensu lato (Serpentes, Hydrophiidae). 3. The genus Leioselasma]". Zoologicheskii Zhurnal 63 (10): 1535–1546. (Leioselasma coggeri, new species, p. 1538). (in Russian).
• Rasmussen AR, Sanders KL, Guinea ML, Amey AP (2014). "Sea snakes in Australian waters (Serpentes: subfamilies Hydrophiinae and Laticaudinae)—a review with an updated identification key". Zootaxa 3869 (4): 351–371.