[mikeywazowski]

I presume you're referring to the Katipo.

Note that white-tails and redbacks have also migrated to NZ from Australia.

Also, from Wikipedia: "A katipō bite produces the toxic syndrome latrodectism; symptoms include extreme pain and, potentially, hypertension, seizure, or coma." Not exactly what I'd call charming.

[akiselev]

I was referring to the yellow-bellied sea snake in the article. From it's Wikipedia article [1]:

> Though rare, the yellow-bellied sea snake is the most commonly seen sea snake in New Zealand waters, to the degree that the species can be considered indigenous to New Zealand and protected under the Wildlife Act 1953.

The katipo is native to New Zealand and the two spiders seem to been introduced by humans. The yellow bellied sea snake just floats over so often it's protected.

[1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yellow-bellied_sea_snake#Distr...

[mikeywazowski]

Ahh.. I don't know why I immediately assumed you were talking about spiders - my apologies!

I agree with everything you've said.

[potatochup]

In case anyone is interested, Katipo bites are extremely uncommon. 2 deaths ever and 1 bite recorded from 1951 to 2012.

> Hornabrook, in his 1951 review of the early literature on katipo spider bites, found a total of 22 cases, including 2 deaths. Since 1951, there has been only one reported case of a katipo bite, involving severe myocarditis in a 22-year-old man, despite katipo spiders inhabiting coastal beach dunes around New Zealand.

[1] https://sciblogs.co.nz/griffins-gadgets/2012/03/09/bitten-by...

[dwd]

In comparison around 2000 people are bitten by redback spiders in Australia each year.

Bites were historically even more common when everyone had a dunny out the back.

[pvaldes]

Those spiders bite to protect its nest in the high grasses. It was a uncommon danger in cereal fields, when people harvested in shorts with a sickle, but currently everybody use machines for that.