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Hydrophis cantoris GÜNTHER, 1864

IUCN Red List - Hydrophis cantoris - Data Deficient, DD
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Higher TaxaElapidae (Hydrophiinae), Colubroidea, Caenophidia, Alethinophidia, Serpentes, Squamata (snakes)
Subspecies 
Common NamesE: Cantor’s narrow –headed sea snake
Farsi: Mâr-e daryâï-ye gunder 
SynonymHydrophis cantoris GÜNTHER 1864: 374
Hydrophis cantoris — ANDERSON 1871: 193
Distira gillespiae BOULENGER 1899: 642
Distira gillespiae — WALL 1905: 310
Microcephalophis cantoris — WALL 1921: 330
Microcephalophis cantoris — SMITH 1943: 475
Microcephalophis cantoris — CORKILL & COCHRANE 1966
Hydrophis cantoris — WELCH 1994: 67
Microcephalophis cantoris — DAS 1996: 61
Hydrophis cantoris — LEVITON et al. 2003
Hydrophis (Microcephalophis) cantoris — KHARIN 2004
Hydrophis cantoris — DAVID et al. 2004
Microcephalophis cantoris — WALLACH et al. 2014: 439
Microcephalophis cantoris — REZAIE-ATAGHOLIPOUR et al. 2016: 157
Microcephalophis cantoris — MONDAL et al. 2023: 215 
DistributionIndian Ocean: Pakistan, India (Gujarat, Andaman Islands), Myanmar (= Burma), Thailand, Malaysia, Iran (Gulf of Oman)

Type locality: Penang, Malaysia  
Reproductionovovivparous 
TypesHolotype: BMNH 1946.1.18.30 
DiagnosisDiagnosis: Head small, body long and slender anteriorly; scales on thickest part of body juxtaposed; 5–6 maxillary teeth behind fangs; 23–25 (rarely 21) scale rows around neck, 41–48 around thickest part of body (increase from neck to midbody 18–24); ventrals divided by a longitudinal fissure; prefrontal in contact with third upper labial; ventrals 404–468. Total length males 1450 mm, females 1880 mm; tail length males 120 mm, females140 mm. [after LEVITON 2003; see also REZAIE-ATAGHOLIPOUR et al. 2016: 158]


Additional details (2180 characters) are available for collaborators and contributors. Please contact us for details. 
CommentVenomous!

Distribution: Not listed by GRANDISON 1977 for West Malaysia or Singapore.

The original description is available online (see link below).

PhylogeneticSynonymy: although this species has been included in Microcephalophis, there seems to be no molecular confirmation, hence we leave it in Hydrophis for the time being.

Habitat: marine. 
EtymologyNamed after Dr. Theodore Edward Cantor (1809-1860), an amateur zoologist and Superintendent Physician of the European Asylum, Bhowanipur, Calcutta. 
References
  • Aengals, R.; V.M. Sathish Kumar & Muhamed Jafer Palot 2013. Updated Checklist of Indian Reptiles. Privately published, 24 pp.
  • Anderson, J. 1871. On some Indian reptiles. Proc. Zool. Soc. London 1871: 149-211 - get paper here
  • Anderson, J. 1872. On some Persian, Himalayan, and other Reptiles. Proc. Zool. Soc. London 1872: 371-404 - get paper here
  • Beolens, Bo; Michael Watkins, and Michael Grayson 2011. The Eponym Dictionary of Reptiles. Johns Hopkins University Press, Baltimore, USA - get paper here
  • Buzás, Balázs; Balázs Farkas, Eszter Gulyás & Csaba Géczy 2018. The sea snakes (Elapidae: Hydrophiinae) of Fujairah. Tribulus 26: 4-31
  • Carranza S, Xipell M, Tarroso P, Gardner A, Arnold EN, Robinson MD, et al. 2018. Diversity, distribution and conservation of the terrestrial reptiles of Oman (Sauropsida, Squamata). PLoS One 13 (2): e0190389 - get paper here
  • Carranza, Salvador; Johannes Els; Bernat Burriel-Carranza 2021. A field guide to the reptiles of Oman. Madrid : Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas, 223 pp. [review in HR 53 (3): 531] - get paper here
  • Chan-ard, T., Parr, J.W.K. & Nabhitabhata, J. 2015. A field guide to the reptiles of Thailand. Oxford University Press, NY, 352 pp. [see book reviews by Pauwels & Grismer 2015 and Hikida 2015 for corrections] - get paper here
  • Corkill, N. L. and Cochrane, J. A. 1966. The snakes of the Arabian Peninsula and Socotra. J. Bombay nat. Hist. Soc. 62 (3): 475-506 (1965) - get paper here
  • DAVID, Patrick; MEREL J. COX, OLIVIER S. G. PAUWELS, LAWAN CHANHOME AND KUMTHORN THIRAKHUPT 2004. Book Review - When a bookreview is not sufficient to say all: an in-depth analysis of a recent book on the snakes of Thailand, with an updated checklist of the snakes of the Kingdom. The Natural History Journal of Chulalongkorn University 4(1): 47-80 - get paper here
  • Ganesh, S., Nandhini, T., Samuel, V., Sreeraj, C., Abhilash, K., Purvaja, R., & Ramesh, R. 2019. Marine snakes of Indian coasts: historical resume, systematic checklist, toxinology, status, and identification key. Journal of Threatened Taxa, 11(1), 13132-13150 - get paper here
  • Günther, A. 1864. The Reptiles of British India. London (Taylor & Francis), xxvii + 452 pp. - get paper here
  • Kamali, Kamran 2020. A Field Guide to the Reptiles and Amphibians of Iran. Edition Chimaira, Frankfurt am Main, Germany (www.chimaira.de). 574 pp.
  • Kharin, V.E. 2004. Review of Sea Snakes of the genus Hydrophis sensu stricto (Serpentes: Hydrophiidae). Russian Journal of Marine Biology 30 (6): 387-394 - get paper here
  • Kharin, V.E. 2004. A review of sea snakes of the genus Hydrophis sensu stricto (Serpentes, Hydrophiidae). [in Russian]. Biologiya Morya (Vladivostok) 30 (6): 447-454 - get paper here
  • Leviton, Alan E.; Guinevere O.U. Wogan; Michelle S. Koo; George R. Zug; Rhonda S. Lucas and Jens V. Vindum 2003. The Dangerously Venomous Snakes of Myanmar Illustrated Checklist with Keys. Proc. Cal. Acad. Sci. 54 (24): 407–462 - get paper here
  • Manzoor, U.; M. Z. Khan and M. Asif Iqbal 2019. DISTRIBUTION, STATUS AND CONSERVATION OF REPTILIAN FAUNA IN THE COASTAL AREAS OF KARACHI WITH SPECIAL REFERENCE TO MARINE TURTLES. The J. Anim. Plant Sci. 29(6): - get paper here
  • Patel, Harshil; and Raju Vyas 2019. Reptiles of Gujarat, India: Updated Checklist, Distribution, and Conservation Status. Herpetology Notes 12: 765-777 - get paper here
  • Rajabizadeh, M. 2018. Snakes of Iran. [in Farsi] Tehran: Iranshenasi, 496 pp. [2017 ?] - get paper here
  • Rezaie-Atagholipour M, Ghezellou P, Hesni MA, Dakhteh SMH, Ahmadian H, Vidal N 2016. Sea snakes (Elapidae, Hydrophiinae) in their westernmost extent: an updated and illustrated checklist and key to the species in the Persian Gulf and Gulf of Oman. ZooKeys 622: 129–164, doi: 10.3897/zookeys.622.9939 - get paper here
  • Rieken, F. (Edited by) 1969. Distribution of sea snakes in the South China Sea and East Indian Ocean by V. P. Shuntov. Smithsonian Herp. Inf. Serv. (18): 1-4 - get paper here
  • Sharma, R. C. 2004. Handbook Indian Snakes. AKHIL BOOKS, New Delhi, 292 pp.
  • Smith, M.A. 1943. The Fauna of British India, Ceylon and Burma, Including the Whole of the Indo-Chinese Sub-Region. Reptilia and Amphibia. 3 (Serpentes). Taylor and Francis, London. 583 pp.
  • Vyas, Raju 2007. Present conservation scenario of reptile fauna in Gujarat State, India. Indian Forester, Oct 2007: 1381-1394 - get paper here
  • Wall, F. 1904. Occurrence of a Rare Sea Snake (Distira gillespiae) on the Malabar Coast. J. Bombay Nat. Hist. Soc. 15: 723-726 - get paper here
  • Wall, F. 1905. Notes on Snakes collected in Cannanore from 5th November 1903 to 5th August 1904. J. Bombay Nat. Hist. Soc. 16: 292 - get paper here
  • Wall, F. 1918. Notes on a Collection of Sea Snakes from Madras. J. Bombay Nat. Hist. Soc. 25: 599-607 - get paper here
  • Wall, FRANK 1921. Ophidia Taprobanica or the Snakes of Ceylon. Colombo Mus. (H. R. Cottle, govt. printer), Colombo. xxii, 581 pages - get paper here
  • Wallach, Van; Kenneth L. Williams , Jeff Boundy 2014. Snakes of the World: A Catalogue of Living and Extinct Species. [type catalogue] Taylor and Francis, CRC Press, 1237 pp.
 
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