Hydrophis spiralis
| Yellow Sea Snake | |
|---|---|
| Scientific classification | |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Class: | Reptilia |
| Order: | Squamata |
| Suborder: | Serpentes |
| Family: | Elapidae[1] |
| Genus: | Hydrophis |
| Species: | H. spiralis |
| Binomial name | |
| Hydrophis spiralis (Shaw, 1802) |
|
Yellow Sea Snake Hydrophis spiralis is a species of sea snake.[1]
Contents |
[edit] Anatomy
This is perhaps the longest species of seasnake (up to 2.75 m). 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); ven-trals 295-362, distinct throughout, about twice as broad as adjacent body scales; yellowish or yel-lowish- 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 yel-low horseshoe-shaped marking, in adult head usually yellow. Total length males 1620 mm, females 1830 mm; tail length males 140 mm, females 120 mm.
[edit] Distribution
Indian Ocean (Persian Gulf, Oman, United Arab Emirates, Iran, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, India, Indonesia, Malaysia, Philippines, China, New Guinea), New Caledonia/Loyalty Islands
[edit] References
- ^ a b "Hydrophis". Integrated Taxonomic Information System. http://www.itis.gov/servlet/SingleRpt/SingleRpt?search_topic=TSN&search_value=700227. Retrieved 7 September 2007.
[edit] Bibliography
- 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
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