Sea krait

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Sea krait
Laticauda colubrina
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Reptilia
Order: Squamata
Suborder: Serpentes
Family: Elapidae
Subfamily: Laticaudinae
Cope, 1876
Genus: Laticauda
Laurenti, 1768
Type species
Laticauda laticaudata
, 1758)
Species

Eight, see text

Sea kraits are a genus of venomous elapid sea snakes (subfamily: Laticaudinae), Laticauda. They are semiaquatic, and retain the wide ventral scales typical of terrestrial snakes for moving on land, but also have paddle-shaped tails for swimming.[1] Unlike fully aquatic ovoviviparous sea snakes, sea kraits are oviparous and must come to land to digest prey and lay eggs.[2] They also have independent evolutionary origins into aquatic habitats, with sea kraits diverging earlier from other Australasian elapids.[3][4] Thus, sea kraits and sea snakes are an example of convergent evolution into aquatic habitats within the Hydrophiinae snakes. Sea kraits are also often confused with land kraits (genus Bungarus), which are not aquatic.

Description

Sea kraits are

maxillary bone extends forwards beyond the palatine bone.[2] Members of Laticauda can grow to 1.5 m (4.9 ft) long.[7]

Location

Laticauda species are found throughout the South and Southeast Asian islands spreading from India in the west, north as far as Japan, and southeast to Fiji. The species occasionally wanders south to the

Laticauda colubrina being the most common example in New Zealand), however no known locally breeding populations are known to exist in these areas.[8] Sea kraits typically live in the littoral zone of coastal waters and are semi-terrestrial, spending time ashore and in shallow waters, as well as around coral reefs.[8][9]

Diet

Laticauda species feed in the ocean, mostly eating

conger eels
, and some squid, crabs, and fish. They have never been observed feeding on land.

Behavior

Laticauda species are often active at night, which is when they prefer to hunt. Though they possess highly toxic venom, these snakes are usually shy and reclusive, and in

Black-banded sea kraits, numbering in the hundreds, form hunting alliances with yellow goatfish and bluefin trevally, flushing potential prey from narrow crannies in a reef the same way some moray eels do.[11][12]
Sea kraits are capable of diving up to 80 m deep in a single hunting trip.[13] They also have a very large hunting range, with at least 615 and perhaps up to 1660 km2 surface area for the Blue-lipped sea krait; 1380 and potentially up to 4500 km2 for the New Caledonian sea krait.[14] They have a remarkable ability to climb up vertical rocks of their coastal limestone habitats.[1]

Breeding

Laticauda females are

oviparous, and they return to land to mate and lay eggs.[8] Several males form a mating ball
around the female, twitching their bodies in what is termed "caudocephalic waves". Though these animals can occur in high densities in suitable locations, nests of eggs are very rarely encountered, suggesting specific nesting conditions need to be met.

Species and taxonomy

Eight species are currently recognised as being valid.[15][16]

The species L. schistorhyncha and L. semifasciata have been placed in the genus Pseudolaticauda by some authors.[18]

Nota bene: A binomial authority in parentheses indicates that the species was originally described in a genus other than Laticauda.

Parasites

Sea snakes can have parasitic ticks, occasionally with heavy infestations.[19]

References

  1. ^ a b c Wilson, Stephen K.; Swan, Gerry (2013). A Complete Guide to Reptiles of Australia. Chatswood, New South Wales: New Holland Publishers. p. 564.
  2. ^ a b Cogger, Hal (2000). Reptiles and Amphibians of Australia. Sydney, NSW: Reed New Holland. p. 722.
  3. PMID 21074626
    .
  4. doi:10.1006/bijl.1997.0178
    .
  5. S2CID 82676695
    .
  6. doi:10.1016/j.jembe.2010.08.001
    .
  7. ^ Shine, Richard; Shetty, Sohan (2002). "Activity Patterns of Yellow-Lipped Sea Kraits (Laticauda colubrina) on a Fijian Island". Copeia 2002 (1): 77-85.
  8. ^
    Wikidata Q58629017
    .
  9. ISBN 978-0-7894-7764-4. {{cite book}}: |first2= has generic name (help
    )
  10. ^ "La Lettre de la Délégation n°202". Notes du Centre d'Études Biologiques de Chizé (UPR1934 CNRS) (CNRS DR15) (in French). 202. 2016-03-29. Archived from the original on 2017-03-23. Retrieved 2017-03-23.
  11. ^ "Black-banded sea krait photo - Laticauda semifasciata - G78940". Archived from the original on 2012-10-08. Retrieved 2011-07-30.
  12. ^ "BBC Earth - Programmes - Planet Earth". Archived from the original on 2012-03-11. Retrieved 2015-08-18.
  13. doi:10.1007/s12052-009-0139-y
    .
  14. ISSN 0171-8630
    .
  15. ^ Heatwole H, Busack S, Cogger H (2005). "Geographic variation in sea kraits of the Laticauda colubrina complex (Serpentes: Elapidae: Hydrophiinae: Laticaudini)". Herpetological Monographs 19: 1-136.
  16. ^ Cogger HG, Heatwole HF (2006). "Laticauda frontalis (de Vis, 1905) and Laticauda saintgironsi n.sp. from Vanuato and New Caledonia (Serpentes: Elapidae: Laticaudinae) – a new lineage of sea kraits?" Records of the Australian Museum 58: 245-256.
  17. ISBN 978-1-4214-0135-5
    . (Laticauda guineai, p. 112).
  18. ^ Kharin VE, Czeblukov VP (2006). "A new revision of the sea kraits of family Laticaudidae Cope, 1879 (Serpentes: Colubroidea)". Russian Journal of Herpetology 13: 227-241.
  19. ^ "Sea snake parasites – 1". Tropical Research and Conservation Centre. 8 March 2011. Archived from the original on 2 April 2012. Retrieved 9 October 2017.

Further reading

  • Laurenti JN (1768). Specimen medicum, exhibens synopsin reptilium emendatam cum experimentis circa venena et antidota reptilium austriacorum. Vienna: "Joan. Thom. Nob. de Trattnern". 214 pp. + Plates I-V. (Laticauda, new genus, p. 109). (in Latin).

External links

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