Hydrophis cyanocinctus (Daudin, 1803)
Banded Sea Snake 青環海蛇
(Highly venomous)
Suborder
Serpentes 蛇亞目
Head yellow, with a pale dark marking on the rear. Nostrils on top of snout.
Two rigid fangs in upper jaw. Ventrals poorly developed and reduced in size for fully aquatic adaptation.
Tail laterally compressed and paddle-shaped. Tail tip black. Scales strongly tuberculate.
Inhabits the sea close to shore. Occasionally washed up and stranded on beaches.
A dead specimen was found on a Peng Chau beach around 1985.
In May 1996, a specimen was seen swimming in open waters between Peng Chau and Hei Ling Chau.
Also reported stranding at Repulse Bay on Hong Kong Island.
However, careless handling may result in bites which are occasionally fatal as the venom is strongly neurotoxic.
One fatality occurred in 1968 when a young girl was bitten on board a fishing boat at Tai Po.
Is a local food delicacy. In Hong Kong sea snakes seem to be caught and offered for sale during the winter months.
Also sold as dried form as food along with a few other species of sea snake.
Was much more common some 50-60 years ago as it was reported frequently stranded at Repulse Bay on Hong Kong Island.
Sea snakes, probably this species, have been occasionally reported by divers in Mirs Bay.
Occurs in Persian Gulf to Southeast Asia, along the entire China coast, to Korea and Japan and south to New Guinea.