Yellow-lipped sea kraits are
semiaquatic. Juveniles stay in water and on adjacent coasts, but adults are able to move further inland and spend half their time on land and half in the ocean. Adult males are more terrestrially active during mating and hunt in shallower water, requiring more terrestrial locomotive ability. Adult females, though, are less active on land during mating and hunt in deeper water, requiring more aquatic locomotive ability. Because males are smaller, they crawl and swim faster than females. Yellow-lipped sea kraits collected near the tip of
Borneo had heavy tick infections.
Hunting and diet Hunting is often performed alone, but
L. colubrina kraits may also do so in large numbers in the company of hunting parties of
giant trevally and
goatfish. This cooperative hunting technique is similar to that of the
moray eel, with the yellow-lipped sea kraits flushing out prey from narrow crevices and holes, and the trevally and goatfish feeding on fleeing prey. While probing crevices with their heads, yellow-lipped sea kraits are unable to observe approaching predators and can be vulnerable. The snakes can deter predators, such as larger fish, sharks, and birds, by fooling them into thinking that their tail is their head, because the color and movement of the tail is similar to that of the snake's head. For example, the lateral aspect of the tail corresponds to the dorsal view of the head. Yellow-lipped sea kraits primarily feed on varieties of eels (of the families
Congridae,
Muraenidae, and
Ophichthidae), but also eat small fish (including those of the families
Pomacentridae and
Synodontidae). After hunting, yellow-lipped sea kraits return to land to digest their prey. When a male detects a female, he chases the female and begins courtship. Females are larger and slower than males, and many males escort and intertwine around a single female. The males then align their bodies with the female and rhythmically contract; the resulting mass of snakes can remain nearly motionless for several days. After courtship, the snakes copulate for about an average of two hours. These eggs are very rarely found in the wild; only two nests have been definitively reported throughout the entire range of the species. If they do bite, it is usually in self-defense when accidentally grabbed. Most sea snake bites occur when fishermen attempt to untangle the snakes from their fishing nets. In the
Philippines, yellow-lipped sea kraits are caught for their skin and meat; the meat is
smoked and exported for use in
Japanese cuisine. ==References==