The terrestrial life of sea kraits : insights from a long-term study on two Laticauda species (Reptilia: Squamata: Elapidae) in the Andaman Islands, India
Date
2018-10-26
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Publisher
Wildlife Information Liaison Development Society
Abstract
Sea kraits forage in water and return to land to digest their prey, mate, slough, and lay their eggs. The temporal terrestrial patterns in encounter rate and behaviour of two species of sea kraits Laticauda colubrina and L. laticaudata were studied over four years at the New Wandoor beach in the southern Andaman Islands. The encounter rate of L. colubrina was found to be 20 times higher than L. laticaudata, and sea kraits were observed to prefer the natural refuge that the microhabitat of uprooted trees provide. Additionally, nesting observations are presented that emphasize the need to promote the conservation of these crucial terrestrial habitats.
Description
CITATION: Tyabji, Z. et al. 2018. The terrestrial life of sea kraits : insights from a long-term study on two Laticauda species (Reptilia: Squamata: Elapidae) in the Andaman Islands, India. Journal of Threatened Taxa, 10(11):12443–12450, doi:10.11609/jott.4311.10.11.12443-12450.
The original publication is available at https://threatenedtaxa.org
The original publication is available at https://threatenedtaxa.org
Keywords
Sea snakes -- India -- Andaman Islands, Sea snakes -- Behavior, Sea snakes -- Habitat -- Conservation, Laticauda colubrina, Laticauda laticaudata
Citation
Tyabji, Z. et al. 2018. The terrestrial life of sea kraits : insights from a long-term study on two Laticauda species (Reptilia: Squamata: Elapidae) in the Andaman Islands, India. Journal of Threatened Taxa, 10(11):12443–12450, doi:10.11609/jott.4311.10.11.12443-12450.