Hydrophis ornatus (GRAY, 1842)
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Hydrophis ornatus
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| Higher Taxa | Elapidae (Hydrophiinae), Serpentes (snakes) |
| Subspecies | Hydrophis ornatus godeffroyi (PETERS 1873) Hydrophis ornatus maresianus (MITTLEMAN 1947) Hydrophis ornatus ocellata (GRAY 1849) Hydrophis ornatus ornatus (GRAY 1842) |
| Common Names | Ornate Reef seasnake |
| Synonym | Aturia ornata GRAY 1842: 61 Hydrophis laevis LÜTKEN 1863 Hydrophis ellioti GÜNTHER 1864 Hydrophis ornata — GÜNTHER 1864 Hydrophis Ellioti — BOULENGER 1887: 408 Distira andamanica ANNANDALE 1905 Distira mjobergi LÖNNBERG & ANDERSSON 1913 Hydrophis lamberti SMITH 1917 Disteira ornata — TAYLOR 1922 Hydrophis inornatus — SMITH 1926 Hydrophis ornatus — SMITH 1943 Hydrophis ornatus — TAMIYA et al. 1983 Aturia ornata — WELCH 1994: 25 Hydrophis ornatus — MURPHY, COX & VORIS 1999 Hydrophis ornatus — COGGER 2000: 718 Chitulia ornata — KHARIN 2005 Hydrophis ornatus — SANG et al. 2009 Hydrophis ornatus — WILSON & SWAN 2010: 530 Hydrophis ornata — RASMUSSEN et al. 2011 Chitulia ornata — KHARIN & DOTSENKO 2012 Hydrophis ornatus — SANDERS et al. 2012 Chitulia ornata godeffroyi PETERS 1873 Hydrophis godeffroyi PETERS 1873 Distira godeffroyi — BOULENGER 1896: 291 Disteira godeffroyi — STEJNEGER 1907: 430 Hydrophis ornatus godeffroyi — SANG et al. 2009 Chitulia ornata maresianus MITTLEMAN 1947 Hydrophis ornatus maresianus MITTLEMAN 1947 Hydrophis ornatus maresianus — SANG et al. 2009 Chitulia ornata ocellata GRAY 1849 Hydrophis ornatus ocellatus GRAY 1849 Hydrophis ocellata GRAY 1849 Aturia ocellata — WELCH 1994: 25 Hydrophis ocellatus — HEATWOLE 1999 Chitulia ornata ocellata — KHARIN 2005 Hydrophis ornatus ocellatus — SANG et al. 2009 Chitulia (Chitulia) ocellata — KHARIN 2012 Chitulia ornata ornata (GRAY 1842) Aturia ornata GRAY 1842 Distira ornata BOULENGER 1896 Hydrophis ornatus ornatus — SANG et al. 2009 |
| Distribution | Indian Ocean (Pakistan, Sri Lanka, India, Indonesia, New Guinea, Malaysia), Vietnam, Myanmar, South Chinese Sea (China: Coasts of Guangxi, Guangdong, Hainan, Hong Kong, Taiwan, Shandong) Persian Gulf (Oman, United Arab Emirates, Iran,) through Indian Ocean East to seas surrounding Indoaustralian Archipelago Philippines, Gulf of Thailand Japan (Ryukyu) Australia (New South Wales, North Territory, Tasmania, Queensland, West Australia), New Caledonia/Loyalty Islands, Solomon Islands [McCoy 2000] Type locality: not given Map legend:  - Region according to the TDWG standard, not a precise distribution map.NOTE: TDWG regions are generated automatically from the text in the distribution field and this does not always work properly. We are working on it. |
| Types | type: BMNH 1946.1.23.72 type: BM III.g.9.a [ocellatus] type: ZMUC (laevis) Holotype: NRM [Distira mjobergi] |
| Comment | Venomous! According to GOLAY et al. 1993, Hydrophis ornatus godeffroyi has been synonymized with Hydrophis ornatus ornatus. This subspecies has been named after Johann Cesar Godeffroy (1813-1885), a German merchant who founded the Museum Godeffroy in 1861. COGGER 2000 questions the validity of ocellatus without giving specific reasons. DIAGNOSTIC CHARACTERS (DIAGNOSIS).— Scales on thickest part of body more or less hexagonal in shape, feebly imbricate or juxtaposed; 10–13 maxillary teeth behind fangs; head large; body robust, not elongate, greatest diameter posteriorly about twice that of the neck; 1 preocular; 2 postoculars; 2 anterior temporals; 7–8 upper labials; scale rows on neck:•28–37,•31–45, on thickest part of body,•33–45,•39–55 (increase from neck to midbody 4–12); ventrals distinct throughout, in • 209–260, in •236–312, anteriorly ventrals about twice as large as adjacent scales, narrowing posteriorly; above grayish or light olive to almost white with broad dark bars or rhomboidal spots separated by narrow interspaces; below yellowish or whitish [after LEVITON 2003] Size: Total length males 950 mm, females 860; tail length: males 115 mm, females 80 mm. 115 cm TL (RASMUSSEN 2011). Habitat: marine. |
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