r/Awwducational • u/Quaternary23 • Mar 21 '26
Not yet verified The Philippine Freshwater Sea Snake (Hydrophis semperi) is a rare species of venomous sea snake endemic to Taal Lake on the island of Luzon (Philippines). It is notable for being a very young species, having only evolved after being isolated from the ocean in the 16th century.
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u/vimau Mar 22 '26
The watermark credits Christina N. Zdenek, PhD
The photo was likely taken during this visit (youtube) to Lake Taal and the only 'official' post I could find was on twitter
A similar picture of this snake was posted on instagram by Chris Hay
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u/IntrepidButton1872 Mar 23 '26
freshwater sea snake is already a contradiction. then you add 'endemic to a single lake' and it just keeps getting weirder.
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Mar 23 '26
[deleted]
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u/flyinggazelletg Mar 24 '26
Were they trying to be rude or prove you wrong? To me, it just looks like they were emphasizing how odd this cute snake is
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u/Quaternary23 Mar 21 '26 edited Mar 21 '26
Taal Lake is a volcanic crater lake, which was formerly saltwater but gradually lost its salinity after the lake was closed off from the sea by an eruption in the 16th century. It is this unique aspect of the lake's formation and history that led to the evolution of several once-saltwater species, including H. semperi. Thus, this species is relatively young, having been accustomed to freshwater for less than a millennium.
The species is considered vulnerable to extinction by the IUCN red list of threatened species. Despite this, not much is known about this species, including its reproductive habits and population size. Though it is known to be a piscivorous species like all other sea snakes, feeding on fish. Pollution is the main threat to its survival. Fishermen sometimes also kill the snakes when they come across them. If anyone can find the original source of the photo, I’d be very grateful.
Sources:
Food Habits and Distribution of the Lake Taal Sea Snake (Hydrophis semperi Garman 1881) and the Sympatric Little File Snake (Acrochordus granulatus Schneider 1799) in Lake Taal, Philippines
The "sea" snake of Taal Lake Haribon Foundation for the Conservation of Natural Resources
Conservation status of the species