Reproduction in the yellow-bellied sea snake (Pelamis platurus) from Panama: Field and laboratory observations
✍ Scribed by Oscar Vallarino; Paul J. Weldon
- Publisher
- John Wiley and Sons
- Year
- 1996
- Tongue
- English
- Weight
- 473 KB
- Volume
- 15
- Category
- Article
- ISSN
- 0733-3188
No coin nor oath required. For personal study only.
✦ Synopsis
Little is known of the reproductive biology of the yellow-bellied sea snake (Pelamisplaturus), a species widely distributed in the Indo-Pacific and eastern Pacific Oceans. We observed mating, birth, and free-ranging neonates of P. platurus while collecting this snake once a month over 19 months in the Gulf of Chiriqui, Panama. A pair of copulating snakes was netted on the water surface during February. Neonates, which were identified by size, were observed from September to December. Captive females gave birth during September. Neonates born in captivity emerged head-or tailfirst, shed the remnants of the fetal membranes by coiling their body in a circular loop, and then surfaced to breathe.