Beaked Sea Snake

Hydrophis schistosus

The beaked sea snake is the sea snake most likely to put a person in hospital: it accounts for well over half of all sea snake bites and the large majority of the deaths, and its venom carries both nerve- and muscle-destroying toxins potent enough that a dose of roughly 1.5 mg is considered lethal while a single bite delivers around 8 or 9. Adults reach about 1.3 m. They are plain dark grey above and whitish along the sides and belly, with keeled or tubercled scales; juveniles are olive to grey and crossed by black bands that widen at the middle of the body. The short, downturned snout that gives the animal its name is the field mark to look for. Its Tamil and Malayalam name, valakadyn, translates as net biter, which is a fair description of how most encounters happen: the snake is hauled up in fishing gear and bites while being handled. The species ranges through the tropical Indo-Pacific from the Persian Gulf and Arabian Sea past Madagascar and the Seychelles to South and Southeast Asia, and it is one of the commonest sea snakes off the Indian coast. Australian and New Guinean populations were reassigned to a separate species after DNA work. It hunts fish by day and night over shallow, muddy coastal bottoms and in estuaries, can descend to about 100 m, and excretes excess salt through a specialised gland. Divers should give it room and never handle it.