Hydrophis schistosus

Hydrophis schistosus, commonly known as the beaked sea snake, hook-nosed sea snake, common sea snake, or the Valakadeyan sea snake, is a highly venomous species of sea snake common throughout the tropical Indo-Pacific. This species is implicated in more than 50% of all bites caused by sea snakes, as well as the majority of envenomings and fatalities.[2]

Hydrophis schistosus
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Reptilia
Order: Squamata
Suborder: Serpentes
Family: Elapidae
Genus: Hydrophis
Species:
H. schistosus
Binomial name
Hydrophis schistosus
(Daudin, 1803)
Synonyms[1]
  • Disteira schistosa (Daudin, 1803)
  • Enhydrina schistosa (Daudin, 1803)
  • Hydrophis schistosus (Daudin, 1803)
  • Hydrus valakadyn Boie, 1827
A hook-nosed sea snake seen on Arossim Beach, South Goa, India. This snake was found in a fishing net and later released to the sea.

Description

The rostral scale is longer than broad, and is in contact with four shields; frontal more long than broad, shorter than the parietals; nasals in contact with the two anterior labials; sometimes partially divided; one pre- and one or two postoculars; temporals l–3; seven or eight upper labials, fourth or third and fourth entering the eye, the last sometimes divided; anterior chin-shields rather indistinct, separated. Scales with a tubercle or keel, in 50–70 rows; ventrals 230–314, slightly enlarged. The snake is usually uniformly dark grey above; sides and lower parts whitish. Young specimens olive or grey with black transverse bands, broadest in the middle. Length of head and body 1110 mm; tail 190 mm.[3]

The name Vala Kadiyan is from the Tamil word and valakadyn in Malayalam meaning net biter.[4]

Distribution

It is found in the Arabian Sea and Persian Gulf (Bahrain, Iran, Iraq, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia and United Arab Emirates),[1] south of the Seychelles and Madagascar, the seas off South Asia (Pakistan, India (coasts from Gujarat to West Bengal and Andaman & Nicobar Island), Sri Lanka and Bangladesh),[1] Southeast Asia (Myanmar, Thailand, Vietnam).

Snakes from Australia (Northern Territory and Queensland) and New Guinea are now provisionally identified as Enhydrina zweifeli, due to DNA tests that have shown they are not related to Enhydrina schistosa.[5][6]

Habitat and behavior

These snakes are generally found in the coast and coastal islands of India. They are amongst the most common of the 20 kinds of sea snakes found in that region.

They are active both during the day and at night. They are able to dive up to 100 m and stay underwater for a maximum of five hours before resurfacing. Sea snakes are equipped with glands to eliminate excess salt. They are venomous and notably aggressive, with some herpetologists describing them as "cantankerous and savage".[7] About 1.5 milligrams of its venom is estimated to be lethal.

Their principal food is fish.

Venom

The venom of this species is made up of highly potent neurotoxins and myotoxins.[8] This widespread species is responsible for the vast majority of deaths from sea snake bites (up to 90% of all sea snake bites).[9] The LD50 value is 0.1125 mg/kg based on toxicology studies.[10][11] The average venom yield per bite is approximately 7.9–9.0 mg, while the lethal human dose is estimated to be 1.5 mg.[8]

References
Footnotes
  1. Rasmussen, A.; Sanders, K.; Lobo, A. & Courtney, T. (2018) [amended version of 2010 assessment]. "Hydrophis schistosus". IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. 2018: e.T176719A136258180. doi:10.2305/IUCN.UK.2010-4.RLTS.T176719A136258180.en. Retrieved 9 August 2023.
  2. Valenta 2010, p. 153
  3. Rooij, Nelly de 1917 Reptiles of the Indo-Australian archipelago. E J Brill
  4. Smith, M. A. 1941. Fauna of British India. Reptilia and Batrachia.
  5. Ukuwela, K.D.B. et al. (online 2012): Molecular evidence that the deadliest sea snake Enhydrina schistosa (Elapidae: Hydrophiinae) consists of two convergent species. Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution, doi:10.1016/j.ympev.2012.09.031
  6. fox News, Deadliest sea snake splits in two, By Douglas Main,, December 11, 2012
  7. Heatwole, Harold (1987). Sea Snakes. NSW, Australia: UNSW Press. p. 121. ISBN 9780868407760. Retrieved 30 July 2020.
  8. O'Shea, Mark (2005). Venomous Snakes of the World. New Jersey, USA: Princeton U Press. ISBN 978-0-691-15023-9. Archived from the original on 2017-11-04. Retrieved 2011-10-08.
  9. "Beaked Sea Snake". Archived from the original on 2010-11-18. Retrieved 2011-10-08.
  10. LD50 of Beaked Sea Snake Archived February 1, 2012, at the Wayback Machine
  11. LD50 Menu Archived April 13, 2012, at the Wayback Machine
Bibliography
  • Heatwole, H. (1999). Sea Snakes. New South Wales: University of New South Wales Press.
  • Voris, Harold K. (1985). "Population size estimates for a marine snake (Enhydrina schistosa) in Malaysia." Copeia 1985 (4): 955–961
  • Valenta, Jiri (2010). Venomous Snakes: Envenoming, Therapy (2nd ed.). Hauppauge, NY: Nova Science Publishers. ISBN 978-1-60876-618-5.
  • Whitaker, Romulus Earl (1978). Common Indian Snakes: A Field Guide. Delhi: Macmillan. OCLC 4638773.
This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.