Sea snake feared locally extinct rediscovered in ‘twilight zone’ on Ashmore Reef

A species of extremely rare, endemic sea snake not seen on Western Australia’s Ashmore Reef in 23 years has been rediscovered living in the “twilight zone”.

The critically endangered short-nosed sea snake (Aipysurus apraefrontalis) is known from a couple of sites on the north coast of Western Australia, and was once abundant in the shallows of Ashmore Reef before it seemingly disappeared in 1998.

But scientists on board a research vessel equipped with “advanced robotic technologies” found the snake in 67 metres of water…