Sea snakes belong to a group of snakes related to Cobras. However instead of being terrestrial they prefer water. They are rather clumsy when brought ashore stressing how well adapted they are to an aquatic environment.
They cannot stay submerged for extended periods so they will often be close to the surface to breathe.
Appearance
They seldom exceed a length of 6 feet and their heads are relatively small compared to other snakes at the same size. The head of sea snakes are compressed to offer less resistance to moving in water as possible. The sea snakes can be divided into two subfamilies, the Laticaudinae and Hydrophiinae.
Members of the former group are amphibious, that is that they are also able to live on land. They are also called Sea kraits and true sea snakes respectively.
Diet
They mainly feed on fish and it seems like there's a difference in feeding habits when it come to sexes. A study showed that male sea snakes had a more varied diet than female sea snakes1. In the study it was found while male sea snakes had an average of 16 different species in their stomachs females had only an average of 6 different species. The explanation to this is unknown.
Habitat
Sea snakes are confined to relatively temperate water like that found in the Tropical Ocean, the Indian Ocean and the western parts of the Pacific Ocean. There are however also sea snakes in the Eastern Pacific. Some species prefer to live in reefs while other prefers to live close to the shores vegetation.
Life Cycle
Hydrophiids (the true sea snakes) give birth to live young. The gestation period ranges from 4-11 months. There is no parental care at all and young snakes must take care of themselves immediately after birth. To begin with they have to swim to the surface to get some air.
Venom
The venom from a sea snake is generally more toxic to humans than venom from land snakes. Their fangs are however only 1 inch to 1½ inch long and sea snakes are less efficient at penetrating human skin than terrestrial snakes. They are however more inclined to humans if felt threatened than land snakes. It is possible to get antivenin against all sea snake bites.
