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Reptile and Amphibian Encyclopedia > Snakes > Sea Snakes
Sea SnakesSea snakes are venomous elapid snakes that inhabit marine environments for most or all of their lives. Though they evolved from terrestrial ancestors, most are extensively adapted to a fully aquatic life and are unable to even move on land, except for the genus Laticauda, which retain ancestral characteristics which allow limited land movement. They are found in warm coastal waters from the Indian Ocean to the Pacific. All have paddle-like tails and many have laterally compressed bodies that give them an eel-like appearance. However, unlike fish, they do not have gills and must come to the surface regularly to breathe. Nevertheless, they are among the most completely aquatic of all air-breathing vertebrates. Among this group are species with some of the most potent venoms of all snakes. Some have gentle dispositions and bite only when provoked, but others are much more aggressive. Currently, 17 genera are described as sea snakes, comprising 62 species.
- Spiny-headed seasnake - Acalyptophis (Boulenger, 1869)
- Olive sea snakes - Aipysurus (Lacépède, 1804)
- A. apraefrontalis (M.A. Smith, 1926)
- A. duboisii (Bavay, 1869)
- Spine-tailed seasnake - A. eydouxii (Gray, 1849)
- A. foliosquama (M. A. Smith, 1926)
- A. fuscus (Tschudi, 1837)
- A. laevis (Lacépède, 1804)
- Olive sea snake - A. l. laevis (Lacépède, 1804)
- Shark Bay sea snake - A. l. pooleorum (H. M. Smith, 1974)
- A. tenuis (Lonnberg & Andersson, 1913)
- Stoke's sea snake - Astrotia (Fischer, 1855)
- Turtlehead sea snakes - Emydocephalus (Krefft, 1869)
- Beaked sea snakes - Enhydrina (Gray, 1849)
- Grey's mudsnake - Ephalophis (M.A. Smith, 1931)
- Port Darwin mudsnake - Hydrelaps (Boulenger, 1896)
- Sea snakes - Hydrophis (Latreille In Sonnini & Latreille, 1801)
- H. atriceps (Günther, 1864)
- Faint-banded Sea snake - H. belcheri (Gray, 1849)
- Peters' Sea Snake - H. bituberculatus (Peters, 1873)
- H. brookii (Günther, 1872)
- Dwarf Seasnake - H. caerulescens (Shaw, 1802)
- H. cantoris (Günther, 1864)
- H. coggeri (Kharin, 1984)
- H. cyanocinctus (Daudin, 1803)
- H. czeblukovi (Kharin, 1984)
- H. elegans (Gray, 1842)
- Striped Sea Snake - H. fasciatus (Schneider, 1799)
- H. gracilis (Shaw, 1802)
- Plain Seasnake - H. inornatus (Gray, 1849)
- H. kingii (Boulenger, 1896)
- Kloss' Sea Snake - H. klossi (Boulenger, 1912)
- H. lamberti (M.A. Smith, 1917)
- Persian Gulf Sea Snake - H. lapemoides (Gray, 1849)
- H. macdowelli (Kharin, 1983)
- H. major (Shaw, 1802)
- H. mamillaris (Daudin, 1803)
- Slender-necked Seasnake - H. melanocephalus (Gray, 1849)
- H. melanosoma (Günther, 1864)
- H. nigrocinctus (Daudin, 1803)
- Russell's Sea Snake - H. obscurus (Daudin, 1803)
- Ornate Reef seasnake - H. ornatus (Gray, 1842)
- H. pacificus (Boulenger, 1896)
- H. parviceps (M. A. Smith, 1935)
- Garman's sea snake - H. semperi (Garman, 1881)
- H. sibauensis (Rasmussen et al., 2001)
- Yellow Sea Snake - H. spiralis (Shaw, 1802)
- Collared Sea Snake - H. stricticollis (Günther, 1864)
- H. torquatus (Günther, 1864)
- H. vorisi (Kharin, 1984)
- H. walli (Kharin, 1989)
- Jerdon's sea snake - Kerilia (Gray, 1849)
- Bighead sea snake - Kolpophis (M.A. Smith, 1926)
- Shaw's sea snake - Lapemis (Gray, 1835)
- Sea kraits - Laticauda (Laurenti, 1768)
- Yellow-lipped sea krait - Laticauda colubrina (Schneider 1799)
- Crocker's Sea Snake - Laticauda crockeri (Slevin 1934)
- Laticauda frontalis (De Vis 1905)
- Guinea's sea krait - Laticauda guineai (Heatwole, Busack & Cogger 2005)
- Blue-lipped sea krait - Laticauda laticaudata (Linnaeus 1758))
- Saint Girons' sea krait - Laticauda saintgironsi (Cogger & Heatwole 2006)
- Katuali or Niue sea krait - Laticauda schistorhynchus (Guenther 1874)
- Black-banded sea krait - Laticauda semifasciata (Reinwardt 1837)
- Northern mangrove sea snake - Parahydrophis (Burger & Natsuno, 1974)
- Hediger's snake - Parapistocalamus (Roux, 1934)
- Yellow bellied sea snake - Pelamis (Daudin, 1803)
- Praescutata (Wall, 1921)
- Anomalous sea snake - Thalassophis (P. Schmidt, 1852)
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