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Sea SnakesYellow-bellied Sea Snake
Yellow-bellied Sea Snake
Common Name: Yellow-bellied Sea Snake
Scientific Name: Pelamis platurus
The Pelagic sea snake (or
yellow-bellied sea snake), Pelamis platurus: This
snake has a prominent paddle-like tail. The Pelagic
sea snake's coloration normally includes a black
background color contrasting strongly with a yellow belly
and pale yellow lateral stripe along the body which frequently
breaks into an undulating array of black and yellow blotches
on the posterior body and tail.
This snake spends much of its time floating
in open ocean waters along the edges of the
continental shelves of large land masses. It is venomous,
although not nearly as toxic as many other sea snakes. Fatalities
are rare even among fishermen who, bare-handed, regularly
remove these snakes from their nets. It is rarely seen in
the Central Pacific but is always a possibility as an ocean
vagrant dispersed as a result of unusual currents and storms.
It is a member of the largest sea snake family,
Hydrophiidae, and hence bears its young alive without leaving
the ocean.
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