Sea Snakes!!!!!!!
- Thread starter dragonfli
- Start date
ophiura
Active Member
There are no terrestrial snakes native to Hawaii, and so there are severe restrictions in place to prevent their introduction. Introduction of any could have catastrophic impact on the native and unique fauna of the islands. This is why penalties are severe for having a pet snake or importing them (smuggling, in this case).
But I think that is a bit different from this case. A yellow bellied sea snake that washed up (such a natural introduction is not unheard of in Hawaii) has been rehabed and is on display at the aquarium. I think the interest of scientists in this snake might be high if it is really a snake, and I don't think the same rules would quite apply to the accidental acquisition of a seasnake that would have made it there on its own (the interest, I imagine, is that the banded snake eel -let alone a juvenile, would make it to Hawaii...if a juvenile, are they missing some sort of breeding population??).
The question, IMO, would basically be was the animal nonetheless collected properly with permits, etc...not so much if it was not what someone thought they were collecting, IMO.
It appears however there is a lot of confusion with the snake and the mimic snake eel. Most sea snakes, if I am not mistaken, have a compressed "oar like" tail which I do not believe is found in the snake eel.
But I think that is a bit different from this case. A yellow bellied sea snake that washed up (such a natural introduction is not unheard of in Hawaii) has been rehabed and is on display at the aquarium. I think the interest of scientists in this snake might be high if it is really a snake, and I don't think the same rules would quite apply to the accidental acquisition of a seasnake that would have made it there on its own (the interest, I imagine, is that the banded snake eel -let alone a juvenile, would make it to Hawaii...if a juvenile, are they missing some sort of breeding population??).
The question, IMO, would basically be was the animal nonetheless collected properly with permits, etc...not so much if it was not what someone thought they were collecting, IMO.
It appears however there is a lot of confusion with the snake and the mimic snake eel. Most sea snakes, if I am not mistaken, have a compressed "oar like" tail which I do not believe is found in the snake eel.
scubadoo
Active Member
Originally Posted by dragonfli
well after taking everything ....i mean everything outta the tank......sand included, he was coiled up in a ball in the last ball of sand hiding. i tried to get him and he jumped outta the net, but landed back into the tank. i got him into a 40g tub with an inch of water(because of he was an eel i didnt want him to die.)
wel after my friend and i deliberated for over an hour. we got no idea! we thought he was breathing the water....so was he an eel? well he came up "for air" every few seconds, or minutes....was he a snake. he really is too small to tell. everything is closed out here on sundays, so off to waikiki tomorrow morn we go. we will meet with a specialist, and then ill donate him no matter what the outcome.
personally i think it is a baby eel. and damn does that give me some relief! oh and i caught a mantis shrimp too. glad to get that guy outta the tank. well im sorry there isnt a climactic finish. (but SCUBADOO i guess thats how you can tell that this isnt just childish banter....damn man give me some credit....)
i left my memory card reader at my store, so the best i could do at this late hour is my cell phone, and a flash ligtht. let me know what you think. and better pics tomorrow. phew that was a long haul i was scared outta my mind cleaning out my tank today..........i just hope it doesnt cycle............it was stable for the last year............my "neighbor" owes me his first born for this (to bad he is a pain and i dont need a slave for grueling manual labor)
if these pics suck....i got better ones with my camera ill post tomorrow. but these were taken at night.
If I did not beleive that this was true I would never have logged in the time trying to help you. Always a possibility of someone having fun and making up stories.
well after taking everything ....i mean everything outta the tank......sand included, he was coiled up in a ball in the last ball of sand hiding. i tried to get him and he jumped outta the net, but landed back into the tank. i got him into a 40g tub with an inch of water(because of he was an eel i didnt want him to die.)
wel after my friend and i deliberated for over an hour. we got no idea! we thought he was breathing the water....so was he an eel? well he came up "for air" every few seconds, or minutes....was he a snake. he really is too small to tell. everything is closed out here on sundays, so off to waikiki tomorrow morn we go. we will meet with a specialist, and then ill donate him no matter what the outcome.
personally i think it is a baby eel. and damn does that give me some relief! oh and i caught a mantis shrimp too. glad to get that guy outta the tank. well im sorry there isnt a climactic finish. (but SCUBADOO i guess thats how you can tell that this isnt just childish banter....damn man give me some credit....)
i left my memory card reader at my store, so the best i could do at this late hour is my cell phone, and a flash ligtht. let me know what you think. and better pics tomorrow. phew that was a long haul i was scared outta my mind cleaning out my tank today..........i just hope it doesnt cycle............it was stable for the last year............my "neighbor" owes me his first born for this (to bad he is a pain and i dont need a slave for grueling manual labor)
if these pics suck....i got better ones with my camera ill post tomorrow. but these were taken at night.
If I did not beleive that this was true I would never have logged in the time trying to help you. Always a possibility of someone having fun and making up stories.
itchy
Member
Well the thing here is that no ONE was hurt. The eel/snake is now where it should be and hopefully we will find out its true identity very soon. If indeed it turns out to be a snake then the experts in Hawaii will have a new puzzle to figure out. One being how did it get introduced into their waters.
I am just glad that all is well and that dragonfli or anyone else involved was not injured in what was an innocent act. If it turns out to be a sea snake then I guess we were all enlightened a little bit by this creature and all the trouble it has caused...lol I am curios to find out the outcome.
Keep us posted Dragonfli!!!!! :notsure:
I am just glad that all is well and that dragonfli or anyone else involved was not injured in what was an innocent act. If it turns out to be a sea snake then I guess we were all enlightened a little bit by this creature and all the trouble it has caused...lol I am curios to find out the outcome.
Keep us posted Dragonfli!!!!! :notsure:
dragonfli
Member
well we dropped "it" off at the aquarium. funny thing is that the two people who were there must have just been cashiers because i knew more than they did. the specialists dont come in until until a bit later. but i might change my mind about it being an eel............it was straemline, except the back of the tail was paddled, or spooned out a bit. so they'll let me know later on today. thanks for th econcern and help this was the most informative post i have been apart of. that was better than a semester at university about hawaii agri. laws.
if it is a snake, and a baby one.............tht means tht there is a mommy quite near by. and ka'a'awa is 5 min from my house, and beach......there is a cold water current that passes by here, we se sharks and dead whales washed up here all of the time because of the current. a sperm whale washed up once. ihave never smelled anything like that before in my life......there were very distinct shark bite marks on him too. he wieghed 20 tons. the state towed him back out to see and then he re appeared even closer to our house. that was nasty and pretty cool
if it is a snake, and a baby one.............tht means tht there is a mommy quite near by. and ka'a'awa is 5 min from my house, and beach......there is a cold water current that passes by here, we se sharks and dead whales washed up here all of the time because of the current. a sperm whale washed up once. ihave never smelled anything like that before in my life......there were very distinct shark bite marks on him too. he wieghed 20 tons. the state towed him back out to see and then he re appeared even closer to our house. that was nasty and pretty cool
monalisa
Active Member
Dragon,
I think that I speak for many of us here, when I say I'll be very interested in hearing how you go about re-establishing your tank. I know, another lengthy process. But you did what you had to do. Are you going to start over again?
Great job on getting rid of the problem...glad things turned out the way they did and no one was hurt...
Lisa :happyfish
I think that I speak for many of us here, when I say I'll be very interested in hearing how you go about re-establishing your tank. I know, another lengthy process. But you did what you had to do. Are you going to start over again?
Great job on getting rid of the problem...glad things turned out the way they did and no one was hurt...
Lisa :happyfish
sunfishi
New Member
Aloha,
I came across your message and would like to offer some of my observations. Based upon the description of the animal in question as well as the behavior, I believe what you may have is a snake eel (Leiuranus semicinctus), which spends the daylight hours largely or completely buried on sandy bottoms. This may be the reason why it is not seen throughout the day, since it is nocturnal and does not require to take air like other marine reptiles since it is an eel. Can be found near sandy shore breaks searching for food. Like other eels these are carnivorous. Hope this helps!(
Originally Posted by dragonfli
Well i went out of town and had a friend look after my tank. he knows that i go and collect all of my live stock from the ocean. i told him not to because there are many things that you need to know about...blah blah blah.
i got home and he said that he put an "eel" in my tank a week ago. he explained that it want more than 10" long, no wider than a bic pen, and perfectly barred black and white, and when he put him in the guy went directly intothe sand.
well ive lost 10 fish since then
2- bright eye damsels
5- (juvenile) domino damsels
2- barred seargents
1- hawaiian spotted puffer
i need to get this bugger out, and quick. the problem is that he is burrowed in the sand of my tank and i dont want to agitate the sand too much. aaaaaaaahhhhhhh! any advice? id love to know.
ps. these buggers are 10 times more poisionous than rattle snakes, and still breath oxygen.........meaning he can crawl out and get my kids!
:notsure:
I came across your message and would like to offer some of my observations. Based upon the description of the animal in question as well as the behavior, I believe what you may have is a snake eel (Leiuranus semicinctus), which spends the daylight hours largely or completely buried on sandy bottoms. This may be the reason why it is not seen throughout the day, since it is nocturnal and does not require to take air like other marine reptiles since it is an eel. Can be found near sandy shore breaks searching for food. Like other eels these are carnivorous. Hope this helps!(
Originally Posted by dragonfli
Well i went out of town and had a friend look after my tank. he knows that i go and collect all of my live stock from the ocean. i told him not to because there are many things that you need to know about...blah blah blah.
i got home and he said that he put an "eel" in my tank a week ago. he explained that it want more than 10" long, no wider than a bic pen, and perfectly barred black and white, and when he put him in the guy went directly intothe sand.
well ive lost 10 fish since then
2- bright eye damsels
5- (juvenile) domino damsels
2- barred seargents
1- hawaiian spotted puffer
i need to get this bugger out, and quick. the problem is that he is burrowed in the sand of my tank and i dont want to agitate the sand too much. aaaaaaaahhhhhhh! any advice? id love to know.
ps. these buggers are 10 times more poisionous than rattle snakes, and still breath oxygen.........meaning he can crawl out and get my kids!
hermitkrab
Member
Congrats man! I never doubted you! Glad you live to type another day. Can't wait to see the good pics. Nighty night. :sleepy:
dragonfli
Member
WELL it was an eel, but they said that it is a banded snake eel. there was a whole lot more to that but i really didnt care after that, because i have to reestablish my tank. man all tht for an eel. now im still not pumped about this because it wasnt even a climactic finish.
well this pic isnt that great because this is still when iwas too freaked out to get near the little bugger. (he actually jumped towards the camera after this shot was taken and i screamed like a ten year old girl)
well here goes again. im testing to see if my tank cycles. i was careful taking it down, but i cant be too careful trying to get it back up again.
here are some pics of the search, and tear down. man that was freaky.
well this pic isnt that great because this is still when iwas too freaked out to get near the little bugger. (he actually jumped towards the camera after this shot was taken and i screamed like a ten year old girl)
well here goes again. im testing to see if my tank cycles. i was careful taking it down, but i cant be too careful trying to get it back up again.
here are some pics of the search, and tear down. man that was freaky.
itchy
Member
HOLY COW....does that eel know how much trouble it caused...better yet does the friend know how much trouble he caused...lol. The good thing here is everyone is ok. Have you learned your lesson about putting things into the tank out of the ocean? At least tell me you have told your friend to NEVER add anything else again. I think if he did it again I would make him fish food. Well it has been an exciting board nonetheless.
trainfever
Active Member
Well since it is only an eel, why don't you put it back in your tank? just kidding.
just kidding.
fishieness
Active Member
hey!! a banded snake eel!! My hunch was right!! too bad Kcobain111 didnt come her in time to give us a pic to compare and save so much trouble...
glad it turned out well, and good luck with your tank
glad it turned out well, and good luck with your tank
rainmaker6
Member
This has been an absolutly terrific thread. Glad it turned out ok for all involved, including the eel. Only goes to show that no matter how much research we do into the identification of species, there is so much more to learn. Very glad you are ok.