ber of species, the migration to more concealed 

 areas could be associated with the birth of young. 

 This is, in a way, confirmed by the snakes that 

 were caught during 17-20 March 19^4 at three sta- 

 tions in the Gulf of Siam. 



It is seen from the table that the females 

 with embryos were observed only in the upper part 

 of the Gulf. The listed data show that P. platurus 

 reproduced during the observation period. Four 

 young f_. platurus were observed at two stations; 

 the length of their bodies equaling that of the em- 

 bryos. Undoubtedly, they were born in March. A 

 part of the snake population would probably repro- 

 duce dur i ng Apr il. 

 / 1186 / 



It should be noted that the reproduction of 

 sea snakes has been little investigated. For the 

 majority of species, we do not even know the time 

 of reproduction. According to M. Smith (1926), 

 most of the snakes that inhabit the Gulf of Siam 

 bear young in March and April. The data listed in 

 the table confirms that the P. platur us reproduces 

 at this time. On the basis of data at our disposal 

 it is seen that Hydroph is sp iral is also reproduces 

 in the spring. We dissected three females of this 

 species, which were caught on 17 and 18 March 1964 

 at the first and second stations. One of them (150 

 cm.) contained 8 embryos, the other ( 1 35 cm> ) 5 

 embryos, 28-30 cm. long. M icrocephaloph is ca ntoris 

 evidently reproduced by the end of summer. A fe- 



male caught at station 2 on 18 March 1964 was 98 

 cm. long and had three embryos 2-3 cm. long. The 

 reproduction of Astrot ia stokess i i occurs evidently 

 in the winter. This is confirmed by samples caught 

 on 18 March 1964: six young snakes were 37, 38, 41, 

 40, 40 cm. long. 



Lapem is hardw icki i and Hydroph is fasc ia tus 

 evidently reproduce in the winter or autumn. 'Fe- 

 males of these species were observed in August and 

 September of I36I in the Gulf of Tonkin; they con- 

 tained large embryos (10-15 cm. long). 



All of the sampled snakes were molting. Evi- 

 dently, the molting, in contrast to reproduction, 

 occurs at the same time in all the species. £. 

 platurus that were observed Hiring summer i .1 tne 

 Gulf of Tonkin had a contrasting color with a bril- 

 liant yellow hue. P. platurus . which were caught 

 in March 1964 in the Gulf of Siam, had a rather 

 monotonous color with a pink hue. A new yellow skin 

 could be observed through the epidermis by the be- 

 ginning of summer. 



The stomachs of the individuals that were 

 caught in the Gulf of Siam contained only fish 

 (mainly young sturgeons). Some individuals con- 

 tained 5 - 7 small sturgeons, 2-6 cm. long. The main 

 food of the snakes inhabiting the Gulf of Siam 

 consisted of sturgeons — evidently, because these 

 are the most numerous fishes in the area. 



TABLE 



DATA ON THE DISSECTION OF FEMALE P. PLATURUS 

 CAUGHT DURING 17 - 20 MARCH 1964 



No. of Females 

 No. of Newly- With Embryos 

 No. of Mean Born and Their and The Length 



Stations Coordinates Number Length Length in CM of Embryos in CM 



1 



9°07' N. 

 102°52' E. 



10 



35.0 



2 (23.5; 20.0) 



11°21' N. 

 102°31' E. 



12 



42.0 



33 



12°00' N. 

 101°08' E, 



12 



40.0 



2 (20.0; 24.5) 2 (20.0; 22.0) 



