Laticauda laticaudata
Blue-lipped sea krait | |
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Conservation status | |
Scientific classification | |
Kingdom: | Animalia |
Phylum: | Chordata |
Class: | Reptilia |
Order: | Squamata |
Suborder: | Serpentes |
Family: | Hydrophiidae or Elapidae |
Genus: | Laticauda |
Species: | L. laticaudata |
Binomial name | |
Laticauda laticaudata (Linnaeus, 1758) | |
Synonyms | |
Coluber laticaudatus Linnaeus, 1758 |
The blue-lipped sea krait (Laticauda laticaudata) is a species of sea snake.
Diagnostic characters
Ventral scales of this snake are large, one-third to more than one-half the width of the body; the nostrils are lateral; nasal scales are separated by internasals; 19 longitudinal rows of imbricate scales are found at midbody; no azygous prefrontal shield is present; rostral scales are undivided; ventrals number 225-243; subcaudals number 38–47 in males, females have 30–35 (ventral and subcaudal counts after Smith 1943:443). The upper lip is dark brown. Total length varies with sex: males are 910 mm (36 in), females are 1,070 mm (42 in); tail lengths are similar: 110 mm (4.3 in).
Distribution
This species is found in the Indian Ocean (East India, Sri Lanka, Myanmar, Thailand, Indonesia, the Philippines), off the coasts of Fujian and Taiwan (R.O.C), Andaman Islands, Bay of Bengal, coasts of Malay Peninsula to New Guinea, Japan, Polynesia, Melanesia, Solomon Islands [McCoy 2006], Timor-Leste and New Caledonia.
Special features
- Snake warms up in wedge-tailed shearwater nests
See also
- Laticauda colubrina (yellow-lipped sea krait)
References
- Kharin V E 1984 Revision of sea snakes of subfamily Laticaudinae Cope, 1879 sensu lato (Serpentes, Hydrophiidae). Trudy Zoologicheskogo Instituta 124: 128-139
- François Brischoux, Xavier Bonnet, Richard Shine 2009; Kleptothermy: an additional category of thermoregulation, and a possible example in sea kraits (Laticauda laticaudata, Serpentes)Biol. Lett.(2009)5, 729–731 doi:10.1098
- ↑ Lane, A., Guinea, M., Lobo, A. & Gatus, J. (2010). "Laticauda laticaudata". IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. Version 2012.1. International Union for Conservation of Nature. Retrieved 7 October 2012.
External links
Wikimedia Commons has media related to Laticauda laticaudata. |
- Hans Breuer & William Christopher Murphy (2009–2010). "Laticauda laticaudata". Snakes of Taiwan. Retrieved 7 October 2012.
- Peter Uetz and Jakob Hallermann. "Laticauda laticaudata (LINNAEUS, 1758)". The Reptile Database. Retrieved 7 October 2012.