
This is because these snakes rarely visit land, and their eggs won’t incubate underwater. Most true sea snakes are ovoviviparous, meaning females give live birth from eggs stored in the snake’s body. They are the only reptiles to give birth in the ocean. However, most species only evolved one to three million years ago.ĥ. The first sea snakes began to evolve about six to eight million years ago in Southeast Asia’s Coral Triangle. Sea snakes have been around for millions of years.

Sea snakes are also not found in areas of high salinity, such as the Red Sea.

They are not found in the Atlantic Ocean or the Caribbean Sea. Sea snakes live in the tropical and subtropical waters of the Indian and Pacific Oceans. There are no sea snakes in the Atlantic Ocean. Eels have a ridge or fin that runs the length of their bodies, while sea snakes do not. The most reliable way to differentiate between the two is to look for the presence of a dorsal fin.
SEEING LOTS OF SNAKES PRO
Pro Tip: Many people confuse sea snakes with eels. Their flat tails help sea snakes propel themselves gracefully through the water, but these appendages do make them slightly clumsier on land. While it’s impractical to analyze the DNA of every snake-like creature you come across, an easy way to identify sea snakes (from their land-based cousins) is by their paddle-like tails. True sea snakes spend almost all their time at sea, while sea kraits split their time between land and sea. To keep things simple, scientists separate these species into two categories: true sea snakes and sea kraits. While divers usually only see a handful of sea snake species during their time underwater, there are actually 69 identified species.

A post shared by PADI are 12 sea snake facts to answer all your questions about these curious reptiles.
