Yellow-lipped sea krait

Laticauda colubrina · The yellow-lipped sea krait is a highly venomous, black-striped snake with a yellow snout that lives in tropical Indo-Pacific waters.

Also called Banded sea krait, Colubrine sea krait, Columbrine Sea Krait.

Yellow-lipped sea krait
Photo: Diego Delso, CC BY-SA 4.0
Yellow-lipped sea krait
Photo: Elias Levy, CC BY 2.0
Yellow-lipped sea krait
Photo: Jens Petersen, CC BY-SA 3.0

Taxonomy

KingdomAnimalia
PhylumChordata
ClassReptilia
OrderSquamata
FamilyElapidae
GenusLaticauda
SpeciesLaticauda colubrina

Where it lives

Tropical coasts and reefs of the eastern Indian Ocean and western Pacific, from India to southern Japan, Fiji and Tonga.

Fun facts

  • Sea kraits hunt in the sea but come back to land to digest their meals, shed their skin and reproduce.
  • These snakes have a strong sense of home: relocated Fijian sea kraits 5.3 km away all turned up again on their home islands, in about 30.7 days on average.
  • Sea kraits sometimes hunt alongside giant trevally and goatfish, flushing prey out of crevices while their fish partners snap up whatever flees.
  • A sea krait's tail looks and moves like its head, which can fool predators such as sharks, larger fish and birds into thinking the tail is the head.

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Facts and taxonomy adapted from Wikipedia (CC BY-SA 4.0).