Ocean Blog

Most sea snakes are members of the family Hydrophiidae and are characterized by vertically flattened tails and nostrils with valvelike flaps. Unlike eels, sea snakes have scales but lack gills or fins. While they spend much of their time underwater, they must surface periodically to breathe.

Sea snakes are found often in protected coastal waters and near river mouths.  However, they also thrive in other habitats, ranging from muddy or turbid water to clear waters and coral reefs.

The yellow-bellied sea snake or pelagic sea snake, Pelamis platurus, has a remarkably wide geographic range, which reaches the western coasts of North and South America from the Baja peninsula to Ecuador.

Sea snakes are not found in the Atlantic Ocean, the Caribbean, or along the North American coast north of Baja. Hawaii is the only U.S. state where sea snakes are found. Only one, however, has ever been reported in Hawaiian waters, the aforementioned Pelamis platurus, which is the only open-ocean marine snake. While its range extends to these waters, it's very rarely ever encountered, with only 20 specimens documented.

While they may be feared by the populace at large, generally, sea snakes are not aggressive, and they are not thought to strike humans unless provoked, nor do they typically actively pursue swimming prey.

Five major groups of sea snakes exist. The hydrophiids, or "true" sea snakes, numbering around 54 species, are the largest group of sea snakes, having evolved from Australian terrestrial elapids, closely related to cobras, which returned to the marine environment around 30 million years ago.

The laticaudids, or sea kraits, comprise five species, of which four are marine species.  They are banded and sometimes seen in large numbers on beaches in Southeast Asia and some Pacific Islands. Sea kraits have also evolved from terrestrial elapids and have highly toxic venom. However they are very placid and unlikely to bite unless provoked.  They are the only group of sea snakes that are oviparous (egg laying) and must return to land to breed.  

The acrochordids, or file snakes, comprise three species. One species is fully marine while the others live in estuaries and freshwater habitats (file snakes are not venomous).  

The homalopsids, or mangrove snakes, are colubrids that are confined almost entirely to estuarine environments. Nine species of aquatic homalopsids are found primarily in tropical Asian waters and northern Australian waters. Only three species are fully aquatic.  

Finally the natricids, or salt marsh snakes, are confined almost entirely to salt marsh environments. The three species of marine natricids are confined to temperate and subtropical North America and are not venomous. It's thought that these natricids might be in the early stages of evolving marine adaptations.  

All sea snakes except the sea kraits (latidcaudids) give birth to live young after gestation periods that range from four to 11 months, depending on the species. The timing of the reproductive cycle varies enormously between species and also differs between geographical locations for the same species.

These oft-maligned marine animals are incredibly successful predators occupying a unique niche in coastal tropical seas of the Pacific.  As there bodies gracefully undulate, propelling them through the seas like a gymnast's ribbon, many species face a number of threats in the form of degraded and destroyed habitats, warming seas, changing ecosystem structure, and industrial fishing.  

One of the greatest threats to the health of marine ecosystems and the viability of many marine species is the commercial discarding of species that are deemed to have little or no economic value.

One group of marine animals that are too often given short shrift by marine managers, academics, and the public at large, could be considered invisible victims of commercial fishing operations in the Indo-Pacific oceans, where significant levels of bycatch and discarding occurs.  

Sea snakes are the most abundant and widely dispersed group of poisonous reptiles in the world. Approximately 70 species of sea snakes live throughout the warm tropical waters of the Indo-West Pacific (they are not found in the Atlantic Ocean or Caribbean Sea) and account for 86 percent of marine reptile species alive today.

... Check back tomorrow to learn more about the various types of sea snakes. ...

At long last, the final installment, the moment you've all been waiting for, the conclusion of the top 20 fish with bad names that we should consider renaming. ...

16. Windowpane (Scophthalmus aquosus) - Bob Villa must have named this one.
17. Gag (Mycteroperca microlepis) - I don't know maybe the word can be reclaimed to have a positive association with this grouper, but it'll be tough to overcome the "yuck" reaction from most if the name stays.
18. Mullet (Lutjanus aratus) - Perhaps once this was an acceptable moniker, but now it conjures up too many images of bad hair.
19. Darwin's slimehead (Gephyroberyx darwinii) - Is this more offensive to Chuck or the fish?
20. Weakfish (Cynoscion regalis) - So puny, so girly - they need to start pumping iron.

If you liked the list of fish, keep coming by from time to time. I've got some other lists waiting in the wings. ...

Until next time.

All right kids, it's that time again -- time for the next installment of my top list of fish who desperately need new names.

Without further adieu:

11. Yellow Irish Lord (Hemilepidotus jordani) - Is this a fish or Michael Flatley, Lord of the Dance?

12. Brown Irish Lord (Hemilepidotus spinosus) - No, not William Butler Yeats.

13. Porbeagle (Lamna nasus) - Doesn't this majestic creature deserve a better name than one that evokes an image of a dejected Snoopy from Charlie Brown?

14. Cookiecutter shark (Isistius brasiliensis) - The Martha Stewart of elasmobranches.

15. Fluke (Paralichthys dentatus) - Come on. How would you like to be called `mistake'?

Stay tuned for the grand finale coming Friday. ...

So as not to keep all my many fans out there in cyber space waiting any longer than they already have, here is the next installment of fish we should seriously consider re-naming:

6. Ladyfish (Elops saurus) - Not to be comfused with the damselfish. (Refer to No. 5)
7. Spot (Leiostomus xanthurus) - Not the dog, but the fish.
8. Chilipepper (Sebastes goodei) - It's not just a vegetable.
9. Blob Sculpin (Psychrolutes phrictus) - This one makes me chuckle, but still I feel bad about it.
10. Red Irish Lord (Hemilepidotus hemilepidotus) - Very regal, but, do you think the salmon and trout that are its predators defer to the title when hungry?

Come on back tomorrow for the third installment. I know you're hanging on the edge of your seat already. ...

I must confess to being slightly disappointed with the naming of certain fish species. It's as if the task fell to some poor sap who didn't have the time, interest or creativity in recommending a more captivating alias. With many titles it seems clear that humor has definitely changed over time. I imagine that if some of these unfortunate animals knew what they were being called by a few land-lubbing mammals, they would be outraged. Worse still, is that they have managed to remain so poorly named (at least in my humble opinion) for so long. So I propose a Committee be formed that would identify those misappropriately named, and re-christen them.

In this spirit, I have come up with a list of fish who should be re-named first, and by no means is this an exhaustive list:

1. Soupfin Shark (Galeorhinus galeus) -- I'd hate to be named tasty-legged man.
2. Puddingwife (Halichoeres radiatus) -- Say what??!!
3. John Dory (Zeus faber) -- I have a friend that bears a striking resemblance to this fish, so I understand this one a little more. While several different stories contend for the rights to explain the origin of the name, the silliest, but certainly most creative, seems to me to be the explanation given by Jules Verne in his novel An Antarctic Mystery: "The legendary etymology of this piscatorial designation is Janitore, the `door-keeper,' in allusion to St. Peter, who brought a fish said to be of that species, to our Lord at His command." (St. Peter is said to be keeper of the pearly gates of Heaven.) I prefer the more mundane explanation that it comes from the French jaune and dorée for yellow and gilded - since it does occur, among several locales, in the Mediterranean and off the coast of France. Either way, the name has to go.
4. Sergeant Major (Abudefduf saxatilis) -- I understand this is a high rank, but why not just go with `the General'?
5. Threespot Damselfish (Stegastes planifrons) -- A distressed perch? You have to feel sorry for the males of this genus. See also:
   
   a. Dusky Damselfish (Stegastes adustus)
   b. Yellowtail Damselfish (Microspathodon chrysurus)

Stay tuned for more bad names tomorrow ... same bat time, same bat channel.