Coastal taipan venomous snake in Australia. Adult specimens of this species typically attain sexual maturity around in total length (including tail). More mature specimens can grow to between . Other taipans, including the inland taipan, attain broadly similar sizes although they tend to be slightly smaller in average size. A specimen of an average total length weighs around . According to the Queensland Museum, the longest recorded total length for the coastal taipan was a specimen that was and weighed . However, though exceptionally rare, much larger specimens are widely believed to exist, including specimens of as much as . The taipan
Coastal taipan being bitten, but the average is around 2.5 hours. The time between a bite and death depends on various factors such as the nature of the bite and the constitution of the victim. Untreated bites have a mortality rate of 100% as the coastal taipan always delivers a fatal dose of venom (an average bite delivers 10-12x the lethal dose of venom for a human adult male), and medical professionals recommend that victims seek immediate medical attention even for apparently minor bites. Before the introduction of specific antivenom by the Commonwealth Serum Laboratories in 1956, nearly all bites were fatal.