Olive Sea Snake

About the Olive Sea Snake

Aipysurus laevis is a species of venomous sea snake found in the Indo-Pacific. Its common names include golden sea snake, olive sea snake, and olive-brown sea snake. A species was first described by Bernard Germain de Lacépède in 1804, assigning it to a new genus Aipysurus.

A name published by John Edward Gray, Aipysurus jukesii, is regarded as a synonym for this species. Currently, two subspecies are recognized, including the nominotypical subspecies described below. The subspecies A. l. pooleorum has been elevated to full species status as A. pooleorum.

Aipysurus derives from the Greek aipys "high and steep" and oura "tail"; the term loosely meaning "high tail" was coined to denote "the laterally compressed tail that is higher than the depth of the body". Laevis, a variant form of Latin levis, means "smooth". The specific name, pooleorum (masculine, genitive plural), is in honor of Australian fishermen "W. and W. Poole" who collected the holotype.

It is a common, widespread species that lives on coral reefs, including the Great Barrier Reef. It can be found in the tropical eastern Indian Ocean and the western Pacific Ocean... Wikipedia →