Spine-bellied sea snake
| Hardwicke's spine-bellied seasnake | |
|---|---|
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Scientific classification 
| |
| Domain: | Eukaryota |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Class: | Reptilia |
| Order: | Squamata |
| Suborder: | Serpentes |
| Family: | Elapidae |
| Genus: | Hydrophis |
| Species: | H. hardwickii
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| Binomial name | |
| Hydrophis hardwickii (Gray, 1834)
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| Synonyms[1] | |
The spine-bellied sea snake (Hydrophis hardwickii), also commonly known as Hardwicke's sea snake[2] and Hardwicke's spine-bellied sea snake, is a species of venomous sea snake in the family Elapidae. The species is native to the Indian Ocean and the western Pacific Ocean.
Etymology
[edit]The specific name, hardwickii, is in honor of English naturalist Thomas Hardwicke.[2]
Description
[edit]H. hardwickii has the following characteristics.
- Body short, stout, neck region not less than half as thick as midbody;
- Head large;
- Dorsal scales squarish or hexagonal, juxtaposed, outer 3–4 rows larger than others, scale rows: males 23–31 around neck, females 27-35, around midbody, males 25–27, females 33–41;
- Ventrals small, usually distinct anteriorly, not so posteriorly; in males 114–186, in females 141–230;
- Head shields entire, parietals occasionally divided;
- Nostrils superior, nasals in contact with one another;
- Prefrontal usually in contact with second upper labial;
- 7–8 upper labials, 3–4 bordering eye; 1 preocular and 1–2 postoculars; 2, rarely 3, anterior temporals;
- Greenish or yellow-olive above, whitish below; 35-50 olive to dark gray dorsal bars, tapering to a point laterally, occasionally encircling body; a narrow dark ventral stripe or broad irregular band occasionally present;
- Adults often lack any pattern and are uniform olive to dark gray;
- Head pale olive to black, yellow markings on snout present or not.
- Total length 860 mm (2' 4"), tail length 85 mm (3.3").
Geographic range
[edit]H. hardwickii is located in warm waters:
- Persian Gulf (United Arab Emirates, Iran)
- Indian Ocean (Bangladesh, Burma, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, India)
- South China Sea north to the coasts of Fujian and Shandong
- Strait of Taiwan
- Indoaustralian Archipelago
- North coast of Australia (Northern Territory, Queensland, Western Australia)
- Philippines, Cambodia.[3]
- Pacific Ocean (Thailand, Indonesia, China, Japan, Papua New Guinea)
References
[edit]- ^ Species Hydrophis hardwickii at The Reptile Database www.reptile-database.org.
- ^ a b Beolens, Bo; Watkins, Michael; Grayson, Michael (2011). The Eponym Dictionary of Reptiles. Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press. xiii + 296 pp. ISBN 978-1-4214-0135-5. (Lapemis hardwickii, p. 116).
- ^ "WCH Clinical Toxinology Resources".
Further reading
[edit]- Boulenger GA (1896). Catalogue of the Snakes in the British Museum (Natural History). Volume III., Containing the Colubridæ (Opisthogylyphæ and Proteroglyphæ) .... London: Trustees of the British Museum (Natural History). (Taylor and Francis, printers). xiv + 727 pp. + Plates I–XXV. (Enhydris hardwickii, p. 301).
- Gray JE (1835). Illustrations of Indian Zoology, chiefly selected from the collection of Major-General Hardwicke. Vol. II. London (1833–1834): Adolphus Richter. (Stirling, printer). 263 pp., 95 plates. (Lapemis hardwickii, new species, Plate 87, Figure 2).
- Gray JE (1843). "Description of two new species of reptiles from the collection made during the voyages of H.M.S. Sulphur." Annals and Magazine of Natural History [First Series ] 11: 46.
- Gritis P, Voris HK (1990). "Variability and significance of parietal and ventral scales in the marine snakes of the genus Lapemis (Serpentes: Hydrophiidae), with comments on the occurrence of spiny scales in the genus." Fieldiana Zoology, New Series (56): i–iii + 1–13.
- Günther ACLG (1864). The Reptiles of British India. London: The Ray Society. (Taylor and Francis, printers). xxvii + 452 pp. + Plates I–XXVI. (Hydrophis hardwickii, p. 380 + Plate XXV, figure W).
- Leviton AE, Wogan GOU, Koo MS, Zug GR, Lucas RS, Vindum JV (2003). "The Dangerously Venomous Snakes of Myanmar: Illustrated Checklist with Keys". Proceedings of the California Academy of Sciences 54 (24): 407–462. (Lapemis hardwickii, p. 436).
- Smith MA (1943). The Fauna of British India, Ceylon and Burma, Including the Whole of the Indo-Chinese Sub-region. Reptilia and Amphibia. Vol. III.—Serpentes. London: Secretary of State for India. (Taylor and Francis, printers). xii + 583 pp. (Lapemis hardwickii, pp. 468–470, Figures 148 & 149).
External links
[edit]- SnakeDatabase (http://snakedatabase.org/species/Hydrophis/hardwickii).