Hydrophis spiralis
| Hydrophis spiralis | |
|---|---|
| Conservation status | |
| Scientific classification | |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Subphylum: | Vertebrata |
| Class: | Reptilia |
| Order: | Squamata |
| Suborder: | Serpentes |
| Family: | Elapidae[1] |
| Subfamily: | Hydrophiinae |
| Genus: | Hydrophis |
| Species: | H. spiralis |
| Binomial name | |
| Hydrophis spiralis (Shaw, 1802) | |
| Synonyms | |
Hydrophis spiralis, commonly known as the yellow sea snake, is a species of venomous sea snake in the family Elapidae.[1]
Description
This is perhaps the longest species of seasnake, up to 2.75 metres (9.0 ft).
Diagnostic Characters- Scales on thickest part of body with rounded or pointed tips, imbricate; 6-7 maxillary teeth behind fangs; normally 1 anterior temporal; 6-8 upper labials; 25-31 scale rows around neck, 33-38 around midbody (increase from neck to midbody 4-8); ventrals 295-362, distinct throughout, about twice as broad as adjacent body scales; yellowish or yellowish-green above, dorsal scales edged with black, 41-46 narrow black bands encircle body, the bands usually less than one third the width of the lighter interspaces; head in young black, with a yellow horseshoe-shaped marking; in adult head usually yellow. Total length, males 1,620 millimetres (5.31 ft), females 1,830 millimetres (6.00 ft); tail length, males 140 millimetres (5.5 in), females 120 millimetres (4.7 in).[4]
Geographic range
Indian Ocean (Persian Gulf, Oman, United Arab Emirates, Iran, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, India, Indonesia, Malaysia, Philippines, China, New Guinea), New Caledonia/Loyalty Islands.
References
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 "Hydrophis". Integrated Taxonomic Information System. Retrieved 7 September 2007.
- ↑ Boulenger, G.A. 1896. Catalogue of the Snakes in the British Museum (Natural History). Volume III., Containing the Colubridæ (Opisthoglyphæ and Proteroglyphæ),... Trustees of the British Museum (Natural History). London. pp. 273-274.
- ↑ The Reptile Database. www.reptile-database.org.
- ↑ The Reptile Database. www.reptile-database.org.
Further reading
- Frith, C.B. 1977. The sea snake Hydrophis spiralis (Shaw); a new species of the fauna of Thailand. Nat. Hist. Bull. Siam Soc. (Bangkok) 26: 339-341.
- Shaw, G. 1802. General Zoology or Systematic Natural History, Vol. III., Part II. Amphibia. G. Kearsley (Thomas Davison, printer). London. vi + 313-365. (Hydrus spiralis, p. 564.)