| Beaked seasnake | |
|---|---|
| Scientific classification | |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Class: | Reptilia |
| Order: | Squamata |
| Suborder: | Serpentes |
| Family: | Hydrophiidae |
| Genus: | Enhydrina |
| Species: | E. schistosa |
| Binomial name | |
| Enhydrina schistosa (Daudin, 1803) |
|
Beaked seasnake (Enhydrina schistosa, also known as the hook-nosed sea snake, the common sea snake, and the Valakadyn sea snake ) is a species of sea snake.
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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. 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.[1]
The name valakadyn is from the Malayalam and Tamil word Vala kadiyan meaning net biter.[2]
It is found in the Arabian Sea and Persian Gulf (off Oman), south of the Seychelles and Madagascar, the seas off South Asia (Pakistan, India and Bangladesh), Southeast Asia (Myanmar (formerly Burma), Thailand, Vietnam), and Australia (Northern Territory and Queensland) and New Guinea.
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. Seasnakes are equipped with glands to eliminate excess salt. They are venomous and notably aggressive, with some herpetologists describing them as "cantankerous and savage" (Heatwole 1999, p. 121). About 1.5 milligrams of its venom is estimated to be lethal.[3]
Their principal food is fish. The snake is also eaten as meat by Hong Kong and Singapore fishermen and locals alike.
The venom of this species is made up of highly potent neurotoxins and myotoxins.[4] This widespread species is responsible for the vast majority of deaths from sea snake bites (up to 90% of all sea snake bites).[5] The LD50 value is 0.1125 mg/kg based on toxicology studies.[6][7] 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] All seasnake antivenom is formulated using the Beaked sea snake venom.
Heatwole, H., 1999, Sea Snakes, University of New South Wales Press Ltd., Australia.