Shaw's Sea Snake (Record image)

[Abhishek Jamalabad]

Shaw's Sea Snake Lapemis curtus (confirmation required).
Found this approx. 2 ft long snake on Majali beach near the Goa-Karnataka border one morning earlier this month, after a very heavy shower. The snake had probably washed ashore due to the rough weather. It was however healthy enough to swim away when released below the water mark. My first sighting of this species.
Pardon the quality, this was clicked with a cell phone camera (I had not taken my DSLR due to the heavy rain)


A word of caution: Though generally docile and incapable of launching strikes when out of water, all sea snakes produce extremely potent neurotoxic venom (much more potent than any land snake's) and should be handled (if necessary) with care.

Thanks, C&C awaited.

[Sabyasachi Patra]

Nice to see a sea snake. These are highly poisonous. The tail aids in swimming and can be seen clearly here. In childhood days we used to play in the sea waters and had been warned about this by dad.

I would love to know if at all and how an interaction between a king cobra and these sea snakes will pan out.

So much to learn. There is only one life.

[Mrudul Godbole]

Nice record of a rare species. How did you manage to get it into water? Thanks for the detailed information.

[Saktipada Panigrahi]

Nice to see the image of Shaw's/Short sea snake. More common amongst four species of sea snakes found near Goa coast. All are highly venomous.The docile nature and the smaller opening of the mouth may cause lesser number of fatal bites (relatively unknown).
Thanks for sharing.SaktiWild

[Murugan Anantharaman]

Nice image of the sea snake Abhishek. Snakes fascinate me a lot and sea snakes are no different. The tail looks perfect and the scales in the body are also nice. They look so graceful when swimming in water. Indeed they are highly poisonous. Thanks for sharing.