| Higher Taxa | Elapidae (Hydrophiinae), Colubroidea, Caenophidia, Alethinophidia, Serpentes, Squamata (snakes) |
| Subspecies | Hydrophis torquatus aagaardi (SMITH 1920)
Hydrophis torquatus diadema (GÜNTHER 1864)
Hydrophis torquatus torquatus (GÜNTHER 1864) |
| Common Names | E: West Coast Black-headed Sea Snake |
| Synonym | Hydrophis torquatus torquatus (GÜNTHER 1864)
Hydrophis torquata GÜNTHER 1864
Hydrophis torquatus torquatus GÜNTHER 1864
Hydrophis torquatus — WALL 1921: 343
Hydrophis (Aturia) torquatus — MCDOWELL 1972: 228
Aturia torquata torquata — WELCH 1994: 25
Chitulia torquata — KHARIN 2005
Hydrophis torquatus torquatus — NGUYEN et al. 2009
Chitulia torquata — KHARIN & DOTSENKO 2012
Hydrophis torquatus — SANDERS et al. 2012 (by implication)
Chitulia (Dolichodira) torquatus — KHARIN 2012
Chitulia torquata — WALLACH et al. 2014: 167
Chitulia torquata — CHAN-ARD et al. 2015: 277
Hydrophis torquatus aagaardi (SMITH 1920)
Hydrophis torquatus aagaardi SMITH 1920
Aturia torquata aagaardi — WELCH 1994: 25
Hydrophis torquatus — MURPHY, COX & VORIS 1999
Hydrophis torquatus aagaardi — NGUYEN et al. 2009
Hydrophis torquatus diadema (GÜNTHER 1864)
Hydrophis diadema GÜNTHER 1864: 369
Hydrophis torquatus diadema GÜNTHER 1864
Dolichodira diadema — WALL 1921: 340
Hydrophis torquatus diadema — SMITH 1943
Aturia torquata diadema — WELCH 1994: 25
Chitulia torquata diadema — KHARIN 2005
Hydrophis torquata diadema — RASMUSSEN et al. 2011
Hydrophis torquatus diadema — NGUYEN et al. 2009
Chitulia (Dolichodira) diadema — KHARIN 2012 |
| Distribution | Indonesian Sea (W Malaysia, Sumatra, Borneo, Thailand),
Cambodia (Tonle Sap [HR 27: 154])
aagaardi: South Thailand, Malaysia, Indonesia; Type locality: Narahiwat, Thailand;
diadema: Vietnam, Straits of Malacca, Borneo, Gulf of Thailand, Tonle Sap lake in Cambodia, and possibly China (Smith, 1926; Ineich, 1996; David & Ineich, 1999) ; Type locality: unknown (Sang et al. 2009)
torquatus: Malaysia, Indonesia; Type locality: Penang, Malaysia
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| Reproduction | ovovivparous |
| Types | Syntypes: BMNH 1946.1.3.82–86 (formerly BMNH 1925.9.22.1–5), two adult females, one juvenile male, and two juveniles, longest syntype 584 mm (T.E. Cantor, 1836–1846, via British East India Comp.).
Holotype: BMNH [aagaardi]
Holotype: BMNH [diadema] |
| Diagnosis | Diagnostic characters (diadema): Scale rows around neck 29–37; scale rows around body 35–49; ventrals 230–340. Maxillary teeth behind fangs 8–10. Colouration: Body grey or whitish above, yellow or whitish below, with black bands, which are often incomplete below. Bands fade and disappear with age, leaving the back more or less uniform grey. Head black with a yellowish band across the snout and along sides.
Size: 104 cm |
| Comment | Venomous!
Habitat: marine; H. t. diadema lives both in marine and freshwater habitats (Rasmussen et al. 2001).
Distribution: not in Singapore or not established there (Figueroa et al. 2023). |
| References |
- 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
- Günther, A. 1864. The Reptiles of British India. London (Taylor & Francis), xxvii + 452 pp. - get paper here
- Ineich, Ivan 1996. Geographic Distribution. Hydrophis torquatus diadema. Herpetological Review 27 (3): 154 - get paper here
- Kharin, V.E. 2012. Sea Snakes of the Genus Chitulia Gray, 1849 (Serpentes: Hydrophiidae). The Taxonomic Status of Intrageneric Complexes. Russian Journal of Marine Biolog 38 (6): 456-458 - get paper here
- Kharin, V.E. & Dotsenko I.B. 2012. The First Record of the Sea Snake Chitulia inornata Gray, 1849 from the Arabian Sea with Notes on the Composition of the Genus Chitulia Gray, 1849 (Serpentes: Hydrophiidae). [in Russian and English]. Russian Journal of Marine Biology 38 (1): 35–42 - get paper here
- Kharin, Vladimir E. and Vladimir P. Czeblukov 2007. On First Reliable Record of the Sea Snake Chitulia belcheri (Gray, 1849) from Australian Waters, with Notes on Species Composition and Taxonomic Status of the Genus Chitulia (Serpentes, Hydrophiidae). Russian Journal of Marine Biology, 33 (3): 161–165. - get paper here
- McDowell, S. B. 1972. The genera of sea-snakes of the Hydrophis group (Serpentes: Elapidae). Trans. Zool. Soc. Lond 32: 189-247 - get paper here
- Murphy,J.C.; Cox,M.J. & Voris,H.K. 1999. A key to the sea snakes in the gulf of Thailand. Nat. Hist. Bull. Siam Soc. 47: 95-108
- Nguyen, S.V., Ho, C.T. and Nguyen, T.Q. 2009. Herpetofauna of Vietnam. Chimaira, Frankfurt, 768 pp.
- Rasmussen, A. R., M. AULIYA & W. BÖHME 2001. A new species of sea snake genus Hydrophis (Serpentes: Elapidae) from a river in West Kalimantan (Indonesia, Borneo). Herpetologica 57 (1): 23-32 - get paper here
- RASMUSSEN, ARNE REDSTED; JOHAN ELMBERG, PETER GRAVLUND & IVAN INEICH 2011. Sea snakes (Serpentes: subfamilies Hydrophiinae and Laticaudinae) in Vietnam: a comprehensive checklist and an updated identification key. Zootaxa 2894: 1–20 - get paper here
- Saint-Girons, H. 1972. Les Serpents du Cambodge. Mémoires du Muséum National d'Histoire Naturelle, Série A, Zoologie 74: 1-170
- Smith, M.A. 1920. On sea snakes from the coasts of the Malay peninsula, Siam and Cochin-China. J. Fed. Malay St. Mus. Singapore 10 (1): 1-63 - get paper here
- 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.
- Stuebing, R.B. & INGER, R.F. 1999. A field guide to the snakes of Borneo. Natural history Publications (Borneo), Kota Kinabalu, 254 pp. [corrections in HR 31: 124]. - get paper here
- Stuebing, R.B., Inger, R.F. & Lardner, B. 2014. A field guide to the snakes of Borneo, second edition. Natural history Publications (Borneo)
- Taylor,E.H. 1965. The serpents of Thailand and adjacent waters. Univ. Kansas Sci. Bull. 45 (9): 609-1096 - get paper here
- VORIS, HAROLD K. 2017. Diversity of Marine Snakes on Trawling Grounds in the Straits of Malacca and the South China Sea. Tropical Natural History 17 (2): 65–87 - 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
- Wall,F. 1913. Varieties of Hemibungarus nigrescens and Hydrophis torquatus. J. Bombay nat. Hist. Soc. 22: 638 - 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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