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Hydrophis spiralis (SHAW, 1802)

IUCN Red List - Hydrophis spiralis - Least Concern, LC
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Higher TaxaElapidae (Hydrophiinae), Colubroidea, Caenophidia, Alethinophidia, Serpentes, Squamata (snakes)
Subspecies 
Common NamesE: Yellow Sea Snake, Blotch-backed giant sea snake
Farsi: Mâr-e daryâï-ye zard
G: Schwarzschwänzige Wasserschlange (Wagler 1828) 
SynonymHydrus spiralis SHAW 1802: 564
Hydrophis brugmansii BOIE 1827: 554
Hydrophis melanurus WAGLER 1828
Hydrophis sublaevis GRAY 1842
Hydrophis spiralis GRAY 1849
Hydrophis spiralis — DUMÉRIL & BIBRON 1854: 1354
Hydrophis robusta GÜNTHER 1864
Hydrophis rappii JAN 1872 in Jan and Sordelli, 1870-1881
Hydrophis temporalis BLANFORD 1881: 680
Hydrophis spiralis — ANDERSON 1872
Hydrophis bishopii MURRAY 1884
Hydrophis aurifasciata MURRAY 1886
Hydrophis melanocinctus WALL 1906
Hydrophis brugmansii — BOULENGER 1912: 184
Distira brugmansi — STONE 1913
Lioselasma [sic] spiralis — WALL 1921: 353
Hydrophis spiralis — SMITH 1943: 453
Leioselasma spiralis — PRATER 1924
Leioselasma spiralis — KHARIN 1984
Leioselasma spiralis — WELCH 1994: 72
Leiocephalus spiralis — DAS 1996: 61
Leioselasma spiralis — STUEBING & INGER 1999: 217
Hydrophis spiralis — MURPHY, COX & VORIS 1999
Hydrophis spiralis — BAUER & SADLIER 2000
Hydrophis spiralis — DAVID et al. 2004
Leioselasma spiralis — KHARIN 2005
Hydrophis spiralis — MURTHY 2010
Hydrophis spiralis — RASMUSSEN et al. 2011
Hydrophis spiralis — SANDERS et al. 2012
Leioselasma spiralis — WALLACH et al. 2014: 368
Hydrophis spiralis — REZAIE-ATAGHOLIPOUR et al. 2016 
DistributionIndian Ocean: Persian Gulf, Oman, United Arab Emirates, Iran, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, India (Gujarat), Indonesia (Borneo), Malaysia, Philippines, China, Papua New Guinea, New Caledonia/Loyalty Islands, Thailand, Vietnam, Myanmar, Singapore

Type locality: Indian Ocean  
Reproductionovovivparous 
TypesHolotype: BMNH 1946.1.6.94 
DiagnosisDIAGNOSIS: 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; 25–1 scale rows around neck, –8 around midbody (increase from neck to midbody 4–8); ven-trals 295–62, 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 180 mm; tail length males 140 mm, females 120 mm. [after LEVITON 200, see also REZAIE-ATAGHOLIPOUR et al. 2016] 
CommentVenomous!

Distribution: Not listed by BAUER & VINDUM 1990 for New Caledonia/Loyalty Islands.

Synonymy: V. WALLACH (pers. comm.)

Habitat: marine. 
References
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