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UNCOVERING THE SEX LIFE OF VENOMOUS SEA SNAKES27 May 2003 CRC Reef researchers are studying sea snakes in Australian waters to find out whether they breed with animals close to home or travel long distances to have sex. This study of sea snake sex habits will help to protect and conserve these mysterious and highly inquisitive sea creatures. “Little is known about the status of sea snake populations in Australian waters,” said CRC Reef student Ms Vimoksalehi Lukoschek based at James Cook University. “Nor about their movement patterns, life history strategies, reproductive biology and population genetics.” True sea snakes evolved from Australian venomous land snakes and gave rise to more than 50 species of sea snake worldwide, of which 14 call the Great Barrier Reef home. Ms Lukoschek is using molecular techniques to uncover the sex life of olive sea snakes Aipysurus laevis, and spine-bellied sea snakes Lapemis hardwickii. Sea snakes that breed only with animals in geographically discrete populations could create unique groups within a species. Such genetically distinct populations of sea snakes would need to be carefully managed to ensure they are protected. Ms Lukoschek has found that olive sea snakes in the Great Barrier Reef are genetically distinct from those in northern and western Australia. The sea snakes from the two regions also look different. This suggests that these two groups of olive sea snakes are reproductively isolated and need to be carefully managed. Ms Lukoschek has also mapped the distribution of sea snakes in the Swain Reefs over the last 30 years. “Some reefs consistently have sea snakes, whereas on other reefs, sea snake populations appear and disappear. Genetics will help to unravel some of the movements of sea snakes, particularly if they move to breed.” All true sea snakes (which give birth to live young and do not need to return to land to breed) are listed under the Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act 1999. This Act requires that identification and recovery processes are established for listed species. Ms Lukoschek’s research is crucial to this process because she is providing information about the genetic population structure of the olive and spine-bellied sea snakes. “Sea snakes are highly interactive marine reptiles,” said Ms Lukoschek. “They have long been an attraction for divers on the Great Barrier Reef who are thrilled to swim with these unusual and highly inquisitive animals.” For her work, Ms Lukoschek collected small samples from the tail of live sea snakes from the Great Barrier Reef and the Ashmore Reef region. These snakes were then immediately released. Ms Lukoschek has obtained samples from existing collections. For more information contact: |
