Hydrophis pachycercos FISCHER, 1855
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Hydrophis pachycercos
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| Higher Taxa | Elapidae (Hydrophiinae), Colubroidea, Caenophidia, Alethinophidia, Serpentes, Squamata (snakes) |
| Subspecies | |
| Common Names | |
| Synonym | Hydrophis pachycercos FISCHER 1855 Hydrophis pachycercos FISCHER 1856: 44 Hydrophis pachycerios — JAN 1859 (in error) Hydrophis pachycercos — RASMUSSEN et al. 2007 Hydrophis pachycercos — RASMUSSEN et al. 2011 Chitulia pachycercos — WALLACH et al. 2014: 166 |
| Distribution | Indian Ocean, South Chinese Sea, Vietnam Neotype locality: obtained from a fish market at Phat Thien, Vietnam. |
| Reproduction | ovovivparous |
| Types | Neotype. ZMUC R 661230, adult female, designated by Rasmussen et al. 2007. Holotype: ZMH 390, fide Smith (1926), missing fide KHARIN & HALLERMANN 2009 |
| Diagnosis | |
| Comment | Synonymy: Hydrophis pachycercos has been previously synonymized with H. belcheri but revalidated by RASMUSSEN et al. (2007). Habitat: marine. Venomous! Diagnostic characters: Scale rows around neck 26–31; scale rows around body 3–45; ventrals 247–27. Maxillary teeth behind fangs 7–8. Colouration: Body pale yellow above, white below, with pale brown transverse bands fading on the upper part of the flanks. Head white below, black/dark above with pale supralabials and a pale ring around the eyes. |
| Etymology | Named after Greek: Pachy = thick and cercos = hale. The species name pachycercos has been latified by Günther (1864) and followed by later authors. However, following the International Code of Zoological Nomenclature §31.3.2,: a name which is not originally a Latin name can keep its original spelling. Rasmussen et al. 2007 therefore prefer to keep the name pachycercos instead of the later used name pachycercus. |
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