SEA SNAKES

Striking underwater photos and a brief text focus on sea snakes and sea kraits, poisonous reptiles found in warm coastal waters from East Africa to the Americas' west coasts. More than 50 species of true sea snakes live in tropical seas. The Yellow- bellied sea snake, vividly photographed here, is one of the most common and colorful; Collard describes its habits and life cycle, while drawings detail features like jaws, oar-shaped tail, and special nose valves. Though the sea snake has no natural enemies, it's hunted for its meat, skin, and venom (used in research). While this introduction is dramatic, it has some format problems: boldface and italics are erratically used, while the text floats in two or three columns without regard for normal paragraphing. Odd facts are unsourced (``In 1932 a man named W. P. Lowe saw a slick of sea snakes more than sixty miles long! It contained millions of sea snakes''). Since photos aren't captioned, it's not always clear what species are shown. Still, an intriguing first look at an unusual reptile. Index. (Nonfiction. 10-12)