Disfribution and Identification of Poisonous Sea Snakes 



The commonest color variety is black or dark brown 

 above, dark yellow to brown below with a pale yellow 

 lateral strijie. Another common variety is yellow with 

 a straight-edged l)rown or black dorsal stripe. In less 

 common forms, the dark stripe may be wavy or broken 

 into transverse bars. The head is usually dark on top 

 and yellow on the sides; the tail is whitish barred or 

 mottled with black. 



The average adult length Ls 25 to 30 inches with a 

 maximum of 44 inches. 



Figure 120. — Pelagic Sea Snake, Pclamis platurus. 

 The most widespread species of sea snake ; the one 

 found along the west coast of tropical America. XJ. S. 



Navy jihoto. 



Ixinuirkx: This is the only truly iM-caM-g<iing snake; 

 it has repeatedly lieen seen hiuidrcds of miles from liuul 

 and has reached many remote Tacific islands including 

 Hawaii. It is. nonetheless, the most plentiful in the 

 comparatively shallow waters over the continental 

 shelves. Although a graceful, rapid swimmer, it seems 



to spend much time floating at the surface. It is virtu- 

 ally helpless on land. Great schools of these snakes 

 have been seen in the shallow waters along the west 

 coast of tropical America at certain seasons. This is a 

 species that seems to be definitely repelled by fresh or 

 brackish water and does not enter creeks or rivers. 



Only minute amounts of venom can be obtained from 

 this species in the laboratory, and the toxicity is about 

 one fourth that of Kiilnidriiui (p. 10.31. Only one human 

 fatality has been ascribed to the bite of Pclamis; the 

 report dates back almost a century and the snake may 

 not have been correctly identified. 



REFERENCES 



HARME. Micliel. I'M?,. Venomous Sea Snakes 

 of Viet Xaiii and Tlu'ii- Venoms. In Venom- 

 ous and Poisonous Animals and Xoxious 

 Plants of the Pacific World (H. L. Keegan 

 and W. V. MacFailane, eds.). Pergamon 

 Press: Oxford, pp. 373-378, figs. 1-5. 



HERRE, Albert. 1042. Xotes on Philippine 

 Sea-snakes, (^opeia, no. 1, pp. 7-0. 1040. 

 Notes on Philijipine Sea Snakes of the Genus 

 Laticau(Ja. Ih!d.. no. 4, pp. 282-284. 



SMITH, :\ralcolm A. 1020. A Monograph of the 

 Sea-snakes. Taylor and Francis: London, 

 pp. i-xvii -f 1-130, figs. 1-35, pis. 1-2. 



V()LS0E. IMge. 1030. The Soa Snakes of the 

 Iranian Gulf, /n Danish Scientific Investi- 

 gations in Iran (Knud .lessen and Ragnar 

 Sparck, eds.) Copenhagen. Part 1, i)p. 0-45. 



NOTES 



167 



