Turtleheaded Sea Snake

Turtleheaded Sea Snake (Emydocephalus annulatus) is a snake recorded for Vietnam in the project inventory. Its supporting occurrence note is “Expert range list”. The accepted scientific name is retained because regional snake taxonomy and species boundaries can change, while similar-looking species may require scale counts, anatomy or genetic evidence for reliable separation. This profile therefore distinguishes the recorded identity and occurrence from broader biological context instead of inventing unsupported locality, size, diet or breeding details (project species data; Reptile Database taxonomy).

Emydocephalus sea snakes are fully marine elapids with paddle-like tails and specialized feeding anatomy. Unlike many sea snakes, they feed chiefly on fish eggs attached to reef surfaces rather than capturing mobile fish prey, using reduced dentition and enlarged lip scales while searching crevices. They surface to breathe and give birth at sea. These are general genus-level characteristics, not observations from a particular Vietnamese locality, and exact body size, litter size and habitat depth are omitted (general Emydocephalus account; Reptile Database).