Microcephalophis

Microcephalophis is a genus of true sea snakes in the family Elapidae, the same front-fanged family that includes cobras, mambas, and kraits. The best known member is Gunther's sea snake (Microcephalophis gracilis). True sea snakes form a marine radiation within the elapids, and Microcephalophis sits among close relatives like Hydrophis, with which it is often grouped or even merged by some authorities. The defining look of the genus is in its name: a strikingly small, narrow head and slender neck set against a thicker, deeper body toward the rear, paired with a flattened, paddle-like tail built for swimming.

These are animals of warm coastal seas. The group ranges through the Indian Ocean and the tropical western Pacific, including waters off South and Southeast Asia, and members favor shallow continental-shelf habitats such as soft muddy or sandy bottoms, estuaries, and turbid inshore waters rather than the open ocean. Like other true sea snakes, they breathe air at the surface but spend their lives in the water, and they are poorly suited to moving on land. The small head and thin forebody are linked to a specialized feeding style: probing burrows and crevices on the sea floor for prey.

Microcephalophis is venomous. As elapids, true sea snakes have fixed front fangs and potent venom, so members of this genus should be treated as dangerous and never handled. Sea snakes are generally not aggressive toward people and bites are uncommon, but a bite from any front-fanged elapid is a medical emergency. If a bite is suspected, keep the person still, do not attempt to capture the snake, and get emergency medical help immediately. In the United States contact Poison Control at 1-800-222-1222, and elsewhere call local emergency services. Their diet centers on fish and eel-like prey hunted along the bottom, and like most true sea snakes they are live-bearing, giving birth in the water rather than laying eggs.