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A peer-reviewed 2019 inventory listed 26 marine-snake species known from India’s coastlines and supplied a revised identification key. The work is intended to make these poorly studied reptiles visible to scientists, fishing communities and conservation planners—an urgent need because snakes caught as fishing bycatch can drown, be crushed or bite people handling nets.
What the 2019 inventory documented
S.R. Ganesh and colleagues published Marine snakes of Indian coasts: historical resume, systematic checklist, toxinology, status, and identification key in the Journal of Threatened Taxa on 26 January 2019. Their checklist contains 26 marine-snake species recorded from India’s coastlines. It also brings together historical names, synonymy, type information and a revised identification key.
The figure is a 2019 checklist, not a permanent total. Taxonomy and confirmed distribution records can change as researchers revise species boundaries or document new records.
Sea snakes and other marine snakes
The paper uses “marine snakes” broadly. True sea snakes spend their lives at sea, have front fangs, are venomous and possess flattened, oar-like tails. Other marine snakes use habitats such as estuaries and mudflats. File snakes can look superficially like sea snakes but are harmless.
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| Group or example | What the reporting says |
|---|---|
| True sea snakes | Marine throughout their lives; front-fanged, venomous and equipped with oar-shaped tails. |
| Hook-nosed sea snake (Hydrophis schistosa) | Reported as the most common sea snake along India’s coast. |
| Annulated and Malacca sea snakes | Highlighted among India’s marine snakes. |
| File snakes | Marine snakes that resemble sea snakes but are harmless. |
Are Indian sea snakes dangerous?
True sea snakes are venomous, so a bite is a medical emergency. The practical danger is greatest when a snake is trapped in a net and someone tries to remove it by hand. Chetan Rao of the Dakshin Foundation told Mongabay India that the animals may be caught close to the head, where handling can expose fishers to their small fangs.
Sea-snake-specific antivenom is reported to be unavailable, and India lacks adequate data on sea-snake bites. Thick gloves may reduce contact risk, but they do not make handling a venomous snake safe or guarantee protection. Anyone bitten should seek emergency medical care immediately and avoid cutting, sucking or otherwise treating the wound at home.
Why fishing nets kill sea snakes
Sea snakes breathe air. When trapped underwater in nets, they can drown. They may also suffer crushing injuries beneath the catch or while nets are hauled and sorted.
Gear and situations identified as risks
- Shore seines pulled through coastal waters
- Prawn trawlers
- Boat-seine nets
- Manual sorting when a snake is entangled near the head
Mongabay India reported a mass-death event on a 20–30 metre stretch of beach in Goa: 81 hook-nosed sea snakes were found dead, followed days later by 69 more on the same stretch. These counts describe reported incidents, not an estimate of India’s total sea-snake mortality.
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- Do not kill or handle the snake with bare hands. Vivek Sharma of indiansnakes.org called for a “no killing by hand” mindset.
- Keep people away from the snake’s head. A trapped animal can strike while being freed.
- Use thick protective fishing gloves if net work must continue. This is the precaution reported by Rao; it is not a guarantee against a bite.
- Follow local fisheries or wildlife guidance for releasing the animal. Procedures need to suit the vessel, gear and location.
- Record the encounter when possible. A photograph taken from a safe distance, location, date, gear type and outcome can help monitoring without requiring anyone to handle the snake.
If a bite occurs, stop work, keep the person as still as possible and obtain emergency medical assistance. Do not rely on glove use or assume a small fang means a bite is harmless.
Are India’s sea snakes protected?
The reporting states that marine snakes are protected under Schedule IV of India’s Wildlife (Protection) Act, 1972. Legal protection does not remove threats from fishing activity, coastal development or changing marine conditions. Local authorities and fisheries departments can provide the applicable rules for a particular coast, gear type or protected area.
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What conservation planners need to know
Long-term bycatch monitoring
Ganesh and colleagues call for a long-term bycatch-monitoring programme to establish baseline evidence on the abundance of sea-snake species. Consistent records can show where deaths are concentrated, which gear is involved and whether mitigation changes outcomes.
Reliable identification
The revised identification key matters because species-level identification is the foundation for dependable distribution maps, threat assessments and targeted protection. Misidentifying a harmless file snake or confusing closely related sea snakes can distort all three.
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Mapping important areas
The authors identify mapping high-biodiversity areas and the distributions of threatened species as fundamental conservation needs. Such maps can help planners focus training, monitoring and fishery measures where they are most likely to reduce harm.
Independent reader supportYour contribution helps us test, update, and keep practical guides available for everyone.Do bycatch-reduction devices work in India?
An Australian example cited in the reporting achieved a 30% reduction in sea-snake catch with bycatch-reduction devices. That is an Australian result, not evidence of the same reduction in India. Indian fisheries differ in gear, vessel numbers, operating practices, state policies and management capacity.
Any Indian intervention should therefore be judged locally against five practical measures:
- Reduction in sea-snake deaths, not merely fewer captures
- Improved fisher safety during hauling and sorting
- Accurate species identification and usable monitoring data
- Feasibility across different Indian fisheries
- Demonstrated effectiveness in the specific fishery where it is introduced
How people can help
- Support training that teaches fishers to avoid killing snakes by hand and to recognize safe handling limits.
- Encourage systematic reporting of bycatch, including location, gear and species photographs taken without contact.
- Share the 2019 identification key and involve qualified observers when species cannot be identified safely.
- Promote research on bite incidence, mortality and local gear modifications.
- Respect wildlife-protection rules and contact local wildlife or fisheries authorities rather than attempting to keep or kill a snake.
The Bottom Line
India’s 2019 checklist documented 26 marine-snake species, but the more immediate message is practical: bycatch kills air-breathing snakes, handling can expose fishers to venomous bites, and better identification, reporting and locally tested fishing measures are needed to protect both wildlife and people.
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