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Dead Specimen

Characteristics: A larger member of the Sea Snake family with a yellowish brown colouration marked with darker brown spots. It has a massive muscular body and a broad snout with a barely evident neck. A powerful swimmer but slow and laboured on land. Behaviour: A seemingly docile snake which prefers coral reefs and near shore marine habitats. Food: Feeds entirely of fish.

Breeding: This snake is viviparous and the brood may vary from 10 to 20 with 12 to 15 being the normal size. Apart from these facts little is known about its breeding habits.

Growth: Little is known about the growth pattern of this snake. It is assumed that the young measure around 40cm upon birth. They appear to reach sexual maturity when around 120cm long and can grow to lengths in excess of 150cm.

Venom: The venom of this snake is highly potent and capable of causing death within 5 hours of being bitten. The best documented case of a bite occurred in October of 1979 when a two year old girl was bitten off Queensland, Australia. The victim was lucky to survive after being treated with antivenin prepared from the sea snake Enhydrina schistosa. Apart from this there is little documentation on casualties and so far none have been reported within Sri Lankan limits.

Identification: This snake can be identified by its first three pairs of Supralabials which touch the Nasals and fourth, fifth and sixth pairs which touch the eye. Its size and colouration and size will often be sufficient to distinguish it from the Yellow Bellied Sea Snake (Pelamis platurus) which has somewhat similar features. This specie also has a divided Postocular shield.

Lepidosis:

• Rostral: Broad and spans the total length of the snout.
• Frontal: Prominent with a jagged line of contact with the Parietal system
• Supraoculars: Broad, long and curve inwards anteriorly.
• Parietals: Large and twice as long as the Frontal.
• Prefrontal: Broad and compressed between the Nasals and Supraocular-Frontal system.
• Nasals: Broad and stout with the nostrils situated at the outer anterior corner.
• Loreals: Absent
• Preoculars: Entire
• Postoculars: Divided
• Temporals: Amorphous and touch the seventh, eighth and ninth pairs of Supralabials.
• Supralabials: Nine or ten pairs of which the last are obscure or divided. The first three touch the Nasal shield while the next three touch the eye.
• Mental: Takes the form of a near equilateral triangle.
• Infralabials: Two or three pairs of which the first pair is elongated and touch behind the Mental shield.
• Sublinguals: Absent
• Ventrals: Vestigial
• Costals: Vaguely hexagonal

Dentition:

• Maxillary: 7
• Palatine: 7 to 8
• Pterygoid: 20
• Mandibular: 18 to 19

Distribution: Bay of Bengal, SE Asia, Australia and South China Sea

References:

WALL, Frank: Snakes of Ceylon (1921)
SUTHERLAND, S.K: Australian Animal Toxins (1983)

Acknowledgements:

Picture from a Herpetological Website (Photographer Dr H. Mercer)