Pelamis platura (Linnaeus, 1766)
Yellow-bellied Sea Snake 長吻海蛇
(Highly Venomous)
Pelamis platura
Order
Suborder		 Squamata 有鱗目
Serpentes 蛇亞目
Family Elapidae 眼鏡蛇科
Genus Pelamis 長吻海蛇屬
Species

Pelamis platura
Other name Pelagic Sea Snake
Chinese name 細腹鱗海蛇, 黑背海蛇, 黃腹海蛇, 黑脊海蛇
Total length Average 65 - 70 cm, can reach up to 110 cm.
Description Back black Ventral bright yellow. Black and yellow clearly demarcated.
Body strongly laterally compressed. Head elongated. Top of head black.
Labials and throat yellow.
Nostrils open on top of snout. Two short rigid fangs in upper front of jaw.
Tail paddle-shaped, yellow with black spots or mottling.
Skin loose and flabby. Dorsal scales tuberculate.
Has a very potent venom.
Habitat

A truly pelagic species, sometimes drifting hundreds of miles out of sea.
Usually floats on the sea surface, drifting with the ocean currents and making occasional dives to cool off during hot weather.
Behaviour While drifting, attracts small fish which are caught by a quick sideways strike.
Also drifts among floating seaweed and other flotsam, which provide cover for its prey.
Diet Feeds on small fish. Prey is swallowed head first. Does well in captivity.
Reproduction Viviparous. Is reported to produce 2-6 young.
Distribution In Hong Kong is probably an open water species. Was much more common 50-60 years ago, being recorded as occasionally stranded at Repulse Bay.
There are no recent local records.
Occurs from Persian Gulf to the South China Sea, north to Japan and Russian, and south to Australia and New Zealand, and across the Pacific Ocean to America.
The world most widely distributed Sea Snake.
Conservation Status IUCN Redlist: NE (Not Evaluated)
Pelamis platura Pelamis platura
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