Seasonal Abundance of Sea Snakes on the Chennai Coast, Southern India

Abstract This chapter highlights the incidental catch of sea snakes collected from the Chennai coast, southern India during 2009–13. Of the 12 species reported from previous studies, 10 species were caught incidentally by various types of fishing gear. Hydrophis ornatus was recorded for the first time on the Chennai coast. Enhydrina schistosa seems to be the most common species, and Pelamis platurus and Lapemis curtus are rare. There was a strong correlation between snout to vent length (SVL) and weight, and between total length and weight, in the cases of Enhydrina schistosa and Hydrophis spiralis .