Reptiles
Banded Sea Krait
Laticauda colubrina · Reptile — family Elapidae, subfamily Laticaudinae; an amphibious sea snake, also called the yellow-lipped sea krait
The banded sea krait commutes between worlds. It hunts eels in reef crevices on breath-holds that can pass half an hour, then hauls out on rocks and islets to digest, shed, drink fresh water, and lay eggs — a genuinely amphibious snake, paddle-tailed at one end and land-capable at the other. The venom is potently neurotoxic, and that fact sits beside another: unprovoked bites on divers are essentially unheard of. Kraits treat people as scenery, threading between fins and poking into holes mid-dive with total focus. The etiquette is correspondingly simple — never handle, never corner, and give a rising snake a clear lane to the surface, because it is on a breath just as you are. Females run far larger than males, and several look-alike kraits and true sea snakes share the range.
Waar en wanneer je er een kunt zien
"Resident" betekent dat je ze bij de meeste duiken op die bestemming tegenkomt; "seizoensgebonden" betekent betrouwbaar aanwezig in de vermelde maanden; al het andere is een bonus, geen garantie.
| Bestemming | Betrouwbaarheid | Maanden | Notities |
|---|---|---|---|
| Sipadan & MabulMalaysia | Resident — seen on most dives | Het hele jaar door | |
| Dumaguete, Dauin & Apo IslandPhilippines | Resident — seen on most dives | Het hele jaar door | |
| Banda Sea & AmbonIndonesia | Resident — seen on most dives | Het hele jaar door | |
| Bunaken & ManadoIndonesia | Resident — seen on most dives | Het hele jaar door | |
| Beqa Lagoon & Pacific HarbourFiji | Resident — seen on most dives | Het hele jaar door |
Beste maand, in één oogopslag
Ze begrijpen
Habitat: Coral reefs and adjacent shallows for hunting; rocks, islets, and shorelines for digesting, shedding, drinking, and egg-laying.
Verspreidingsgebied: Eastern Indian Ocean and western Pacific, from Sabah and the Philippines through Indonesia and New Guinea to Fiji and other Pacific islands.
Gedrag: A true amphibian commuter — forages underwater on breath-holds that can pass half an hour, then returns to land. Utterly indifferent to divers, often threading between fins mid-hunt.
Dieet: Eels above all, hunted deep in reef crevices; large females take bigger conger and moray prey than males.
Grootte: doorgaans rond 0.9 m; gedocumenteerd tot 1.5 m (total length; females run far larger than males).
Hoe je je ertegenover gedraagt
Give a hunting krait space to work and a rising one a clear lane to the surface — it is on a breath just as you are. Hands stay away, always.
Behoud
Listed Least Concern; localized pressure comes from coastal development of nesting shores and incidental capture in nets.
Gekende duiksites waar je ze tegenkomt
Bekijk
Via de officiële kanalen
Best Places to Dive with Whale Sharks
Outrageously Tiny Fish
Sink or Swim? with Monét X Change | Monterey Bay Aquarium
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