What is the more poisonous -- land or sea snake?

Answer 1

This is not an easy answer. Snakes fall under two headings: land snakes & sea snakes. Comparing toxicity, sea snake venom exceeds that of land snakes, for sea snakes must hunt cold-blooded prey (the successful rendering of which requires poison of a higher toxic level than that required for warmblooded prey). Additionally, sea snakes hunt in a dilute medium. Insufficient data exists on the intra-genus toxicity of discrete sea snakes. Generally, snakes employ two types of venoms: Neurotoxins (acting on nerves) and Haematotoxins (acting on blood).

Among the neurotoxic land snakes, the Asian Krait is the most poisonous snake of the world, surpassing even the King and Speckled cobras. Cobras cause greater death among people, however, due probably to their greater size and, thus, their higher volume of venom delivery. Among the haematotoxic land snakes, the vipers & pit vipers take the prize for the "most poisonous." A small dose of viper/pit viper venom can produce typical haematotoxic symptoms. A larger dose can kill instantly by stopping the heart. The Gaboon viper combines both neurotoxic and haematotoxic elements in its venom, making it particularly lethal.

All told, however, we might justifiably say that the seasnakes are the most poisonous snakes in the world.

-- Yes, I agree, for the reason that sea snakes hunt in water and need fast-reacting venom, so their prey won't get away.

the fierce or inland taipan of Australia one bite from this snake yields 110mg enough to kill 100 people or 250000 mice 750 times more venomous than a cobra

Answer 2

Sea snakes are generally considered to be more poisonous than land snakes. Sea snakes have highly potent venom that they use to immobilize their prey while hunting in the ocean. However, their fangs are small and they are not aggressive towards humans, so bites are rare.