The terrestrial life of sea kraits: insights from a long-term study on two Laticauda species (Reptilia: Squamata: Elapidae) in the Andaman Islands, India

The terrestrial life of sea kraits: insights from a long-term study on two Laticauda species (Reptilia: Squamata: Elapidae) in the Andaman Islands, India

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 so...

Full description

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Published in:Journal of threatened taxa Vol. 10; no. 11; pp. 12443 - 12450
Main Authors: Tyabji, Zoya, Mohanty, Nitya Prakash, Young, Erina, Khan, Tasneem
Format: Journal Article
Language:English
Published: Wildlife Information Liaison Development Society 26-10-2018
Subjects:
andaman islands
encounter rate
habitat use
india
laticauda colubrina
laticauda laticaudata
nesting behaviour
sea snake
terrestrial pattern
Online Access:Get full text
Tags: Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
Description
Summary: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.
ISSN:0974-7893
0974-7907
DOI:10.11609/jott.4311.10.11.12443-12450