Introduction
Also known as Emydocephalus annulatus, the turtle-headed sea snake lives in shallow coral reef waters. The snake is mainly found in Indonesia, northern Australia, and the Philippines. The name is derived from its pointed snouts that resemble a turtle. The snake has a habit of prodding cluster fish out of holes and crevices. It is referred to as an egg-eating sea snake because its leading food is fish eggs. The adult turtle-headed sea snake grows to about 36 inches with smooth scales. It contains valved nostrils on top of the snout, and its tail is flat. When the snake is inactive, it coils up, and it can stay in water for slightly more than an hour. The turtle-headed sea snake falls under the Emydocephalus, which is a member of the cobra family (Crowe-Riddell et al.). The turtle-headed sea snake consumes only fish eggs and has weak venom. It is listed as an endangered species because its population is reducing at a rate of 90 percent (Lasala et al.). It is worth saving the turtle-headed sea snake because the food chain will experience fish overpopulation if they become extinct.
Specie Assessment
The proposal’s focus is to conduct temporal separation of each fauna and collect the spatial comparison of the material framework. The snake is an active inhabitant of the reefs, and at times, it feeds on seagrass around the beaches and the shallow waters. The turtle-headed sea snake also feeds on echinoderms and mollusks (Lasala et al.). When the snake inhabits the hydrated areas, the reef flats get a combination of genetic stock and analytical diet identifiers. The feeding pattern enables the shorelines to have foraging nesting ground for fish to deposit their eggs. The correlation between the turtle-headed sea snake and the fish breeding ground makes it possible for the fish population to increase. The native food chain and the general ecosystem outlook will have some form of balance.
Research Objectives
The first aim of the research is to know the exact areas that turtle-headed sea snakes inhabit and quantify the number of such species within that vicinity. It is the first step towards understanding the precise number of species that exist within the globe. Quantifying the turtle-headed sea snake can be done through snake departments that have shorelines that contain the species. Secondly, the research aims at unfolding the undiscovered species of turtle-headed sea snake since their morphology varies with geographic distribution. The undiscovered species found in Australia has genetic data that is affiliated with the turtle-headed sea snake. Encouraging people to substitute their delicacy away from turtle-headed sea snakes to save the snakes from extinction will improve their populations.
Survey Methods and Techniques
Surveying the shorelines to get visual orientations and photographic records can indicate if the area has a recent activity emanating from turtle-headed sea snake. The research trip entails having a survey with the Australian Institute of Marine Science. The stratified random surveys will note down the chances of having a reef channel and any form of isolated biomes. Turtle-headed sea snakes will be examined based on populations, and their health condition will be assumed. The research methodology will mainly focus on the extinction rate and find the localities with more turtle-headed sea snake populations. In such areas, the survey will focus on the type of people living within the site, the proximity of the shoreline to human activities, the feeding habits, and the availability of fish within the proximity. Such information can enable the tautology to note what is missing in other areas and lead to the constant decrease of the snakes.
The shorelines will examine any recent activity of the turtle-headed sea snake nesting or signs of hatched nests. Once some traces of the hatched nests are relocated, the research will develop an ontological identifier. The identifiers include the number of nests found, installing a GPS receiver around the nests, counting the number of eggs, counting the number of successful hatches, recording the number of underdeveloped eggs, and recording the dead hatchlings (Crowe-Riddell et al.). The data obtained from the hatchlings will establish the detrimental survival rate of new turtle-headed sea snakes. It will also shed light on whether it is a biological egg hatching process that makes them seem underpopulated or some form of environmental factor.
Turtle-Headed Sea Snake Analytics
The turtle-headed sea snake is venomous but not aggressive unless it is provoked (Goiran). The attempts made to save its population ensure that they are in the biological setup of providing an ambient balance within the food chain. The snake is becoming extinct because of its precious skin, and some people consume it. The turtle-headed sea snakeskin is used to produce leather products and jewelry. Its organs are harvested and used for medical remedies, more so in south-east Asia and some parts of India (Lasala et al.). The conservation is not acting up to ensure the species is not wiped out, yet it has an environmental impact. The localities containing turtle-headed sea snakes should be documented, and people living within those areas should be educated on ensuring the species is kept safe. The tourism sector should ensure that people are educated on killing the turtle-headed sea snake for leather skin or ornaments. When tourists are educated, wiping out the family of fauna from the globe will be impossible. Turtle-headed sea snakes should be protected at all costs, from the individualistic level to governmental interventions.
Conclusion
It is essential to balance the ecosystem by ensuring that all the organisms in the food web are put under care. Any form of injustice such as environmental pollution has been a negative factor that has made most organisms extinct or reduced population. The idealism in keeping the turtle-headed sea snake on the course is to ensure the shallow waters have cohesive adaptability. For instance, if the turtle-headed sea snake is underpopulated or becomes extinct, the food chain that relies on the snakes will be affected. There will be snake overpopulation because a limited number of species will feed on the eggs. Once the fish becomes overpopulated, they will start fighting for space in the water bodies, and their food substances will become scarce due to increased demand. The scientific incorporation of ensuring that turtle-headed sea snake exists through biologically transferring sperms from male to female and ensuring that their eggs are placed under optimum conditions will improve their hatchling conditions. It is fundamental to ensure the ecosystem is kept in a better position to improve the survival rate of turtle-headed sea snakes. People who hunt the snakes should be discouraged and measures put in place to favor them.
Works Cited
Crowe-Riddell, Jenna M et al. “The Sex Life Aquatic: Sexually Dimorphic Scale Mechanoreceptors and Tactile Courtship in A Sea Snake Emydocephalus Annulatus (Elapidae: Hydrophiinae)”. Biological Journal of the Linnean Society, vol 134, no. 1, 2021, pp. 154-164. Oxford University Press (OUP), Web.
Goiran, Claire, Gregory P. Brown, and Richard Shine. “The behaviour of sea snakes (Emydocephalus annulatus) shifts with the tides.” Scientific Reports 10.1 (2020): 1-8.
Lasala, Jacob A. et al. “Female Loggerhead Sea Turtles (Caretta Carettal.) Rarely Remate During Nesting Season”. Ecology and Evolution, vol 10, no. 1, 2019, pp. 163-174. Wiley, Web.