New Zealand's Native Snakes
Yellow-bellied sea snake (Hydrophis platurus) Most people believe that New Zealand is entirely free of snakes. While that is largely correct, it is not entirely correct. There are four species of snakes which have been found naturally in New Zealand. All of them, however, are sea snakes. The most commonly seen species is a type of hydrophiine sea snake, the yellow-bellied sea snake ( Hydrophis platurus, formerly Pelamis platurus ), while the other three species are all types of krait. The hydrophiine sea snakes are a fully pelagic (ocean-going) species of snake which does not ever need to come to land for any reason and are much better adapted to life in the open ocean than the kraits. They hatch their young live (viviparous), so they do not need to return to land to lay eggs. Although they cannot drink salt water, they drink fresh water as it strikes the surface of the ocean during rainy periods before it has a chance to mix with th...