Distributed range & status
They are found in North & North West coasts of Sri Lanka. Beruwala, Moratuwa, Negambo, Kalutara, Wasskaduwa, Puttlum & Jaffna. They are wide spread in the Persian Gulf (Oman, United Arab Emirates, etc.), south to the Seychelles and Madagascar, South East Asian Sea (Pakistan, India, Bangladesh, Myanmar, Thailand, Vietnam), Australia (North Territory, Queensland), New Guinea and Papua New Guinea.
Scales
rostral |
Gives a break like appearance. |
frontal |
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supraoculars |
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parietals |
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prefrontals |
Anterior is thin touching the 2nd supralabial |
nasals |
Undivided scale touches one another |
internasals |
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loreals |
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preoculars |
1 |
postoculars |
1-2 |
temporals |
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Supralabials |
7-8 (3 & 4 touches the eye) |
mental |
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infralabials |
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sublinguals |
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coastals |
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ventrals |
230-361 divided keels are present. |
anal |
Divided scale |
subcaudals |
44-51 |
Scales are distinctly keeled. Males have 49-60 mid body scale rows & females 51-70. Chin scale is thin. They are very long in length than width & divided in to 2.
Characteristics
Anterior part of the body is cylindrical & posterior body is laterally flattened. The head is moderately large & flattened. Upper maxillary of the snout end is bent down like a beak. They have a laterally flattened paddle like tail. Hemipenis is divided in the middle.
Colour
Dorsal body & forehead is grayish olive or blue, the latter a little darker. The body contains 43-49 indistinct darker markings. They are clear in juveniles but with grow they tend to disappear. Juveniles at birth are bright white having black rings on the body. Ventral body is cream in front, darkening to grayish yellow towards the tail.
Venom
They are highly venomous snakes but a death has never been recorded from Sri Lanka.
Dentition
Data not found.
Behavior
Found in coasts & in mangroves that is responsible for a number of human casualties. It prefers muddy bottoms. It swims under water for longer times & are very weak in locomotion in terrestrial habitat. It is a very unpredictable aggressive snake. It is frequently taken in fishing nets & killed in large numbers.
Breeding
This is an ovoviviparous snake. Gravid females are known between December & February. 4-33 offspring are produced one at a time in the ocean. Most off spring include females in it.
Growth
New born measure 254-280mm in length & grows up to 800-1200mm.
Food
This snake is a specialist in feeding marine cat fishes.
Identification
The chin scale of this sea snake is very thin & the length of it is longer than the width. In all other sea snakes the width is longer than the length.
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