Pelagic Sea Snake
Pelamis platura
Where is it found?
Tropical and subtropical waters. Also shallow inshore waters and caves.
Diet and foraging method
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Ambush predator. Highly venomous; chews poison into fish and then waits for the fish to die before swallowing it.
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Key adaptations
Pelagic sea snakes have potent venom to kill their fish prey. They have a salt gland under their tongue to remove salt from the seawater.
Social organisation and mating system
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Solitary but can form huge aggregations
Polygamous
Did you know that...?
Pelagic sea snakes can occur in huge groups of thousands of individuals. They are well adapted for living their whole life at sea, and can stay underwater for up to 3.5 hours!
Taxonomy
Picture credits:
Maps from: http://species.mol.org/species/
"Pelamis Platurus Costa Rica" by Aloaiza - Own work. Licensed under CC BY 3.0 via Commons - https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Pelamis_Platurus_Costa_Rica.JPG#/media/File:Pelamis_Platurus_Costa_Rica.JPG
"Pelamis platura yellow form Costa Rica" by Gabriele Kothe-Heinrich - Own work. Licensed under CC BY-SA 3.0 via Commons - https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Pelamis_platura_yellow_form_Costa_Rica.jpg#/media/File:Pelamis_platura_yellow_form_Costa_Rica.jpg
"Pelamis platuras" by Carpenter0 - english Wikipedia. Licensed under Public Domain via Commons - https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Pelamis_platuras.jpg#/media/File:Pelamis_platuras.jpg
"Pelamis Platurus Costa Rica" by Aloaiza - Own work. Licensed under CC BY 3.0 via Commons - https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Pelamis_Platurus_Costa_Rica.JPG#/media/File:Pelamis_Platurus_Costa_Rica.JPG
"Pelamis platura yellow form Costa Rica" by Gabriele Kothe-Heinrich - Own work. Licensed under CC BY-SA 3.0 via Commons - https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Pelamis_platura_yellow_form_Costa_Rica.jpg#/media/File:Pelamis_platura_yellow_form_Costa_Rica.jpg
"Pelamis platuras" by Carpenter0 - english Wikipedia. Licensed under Public Domain via Commons - https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Pelamis_platuras.jpg#/media/File:Pelamis_platuras.jpg
