Hydrophis peronii (DUMÉRIL, 1853)
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Higher Taxa | Elapidae (Hydrophiinae), Colubroidea, Caenophidia, Alethinophidia, Serpentes, Squamata (snakes) |
Subspecies | |
Common Names | E: Spiny-headed seasnake Chinese: 棘眦海蛇 |
Synonym | Acalyptus Peronii DUMÉRIL 1853 Acalyptus superciliosus Peroni — DUMÉRIL & BIBRON 1854: 1340 Acalyptus superciliosus — FISCHER 1856: 37 Acalyptophis peronii BOULENGER 1896: 269 Pseudodisteira horrida KINGHORN 1926 Acalyptophis peronii — SMITH 1974: 105 Acalyptophis peroni — HARDING & WELCH 1980 Acalyptophis peronii — COX et al. 1998: 34 Acalyptophis peronii — MURPHY, COX & VORIS 1999 Acalyptophis peronii — COGGER 2000: 698 Acalyptophis peronii — WILSON & SWAN 2010: 518 Hydrophis peronii — SANDERS et al. 2012 Acalyptophis peronii — WALLACH et al. 2014: 3 Acalyptophis peronii — COGGER 2014: 813 Acalyptophis peronii — CHAN-ARD et al. 2015: 268 |
Distribution | Gulf of Siam, Vietnam, Thailand, China (South Chinese sea, coast of Guangdong and Strait of Taiwan), Indonesia, Philippines, Papua New Guinea, New Caledonia, Australia (Northern Territory, Queensland, Western Australia) Type locality: New Holland (= Australia) |
Reproduction | ovovivparous |
Types | Holotype: MNHN-RA 7711 |
Diagnosis | DESCRIPTION. Head short, small, diameter of neck one third to two-thirds that of the greatest diameter of body; rostril distinctly broader than deep; supraocular with raised, pointed posterior border; 19–23 scale rows on neck, 23–29 around body, with short keels, stronger and spinose in males; ventrals 142–206, as broad as or slightly narrower than adjacent body scales; greyish or pale brown above, whitish below, with or without dark dorsal bars tapering to points on sides; narrow ventral bands or spots may be present (from Leviton et al. 2014: 509). Diagnostic characters: The only sea snake with spines on the head: parietal and frontal scales broken up, supra- and postoculars and adjacent scales with spines posteriorly. Scale rows around neck 18–24, rarely up to 27; scale rows around body 23–31, rarely 21 or 32; ventrals 142–222. Maxillary teeth behind fangs 5–8. Colouration: Body cream, grey or pale brown above, paler below, with brown/black bands, which are brighter ventrally. Sometimes has dark small bars or spots between the bands, tapering to a point on the sides. See also description in Smith 1974. |
Comment | Venomous! Synonymy: partly after COGGER 1983. Illustration: Plate 40E in ZHAO & ADLER 1993. Habitat: marine. Acalyptophis peronii is a sea snake. Type species: this is the type species of the genus Acalyptophis BOULENGER 1896. The genus Acalyptus is preoccupied by Acalyptus Schoenherr 1836 (Coleoptera). Distribution: not in New South Wales fide Swan et al. 2017, Field Guide. |
Etymology | Named after François Peron (1775-1810), French voyager and naturalist. |
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