Laticauda saintgironsi COGGER & HEATWOLE, 2006
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Laticauda saintgironsi
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| Higher Taxa | Elapidae (Laticaudinae), Colubroidea, Caenophidia, Alethinophidia, Serpentes, Squamata (snakes) |
| Subspecies | |
| Common Names | |
| Synonym | Laticauda saintgironsi COGGER & HEATWOLE 2006 Laticauda colubrina — SCHNEIDER 1799 (part.) Platurus laticaudatus var. B. — GÜNTHER 1858 (part.) Platurus colubrinus — BOULENGER 1896: 309 (part.) Laticauda saintgironsi — HEATWOLE et al. 2005 Laticauda saintgironsi — LIVIGNI 2013: 310, 357 Laticauda saintgironsi — WALLACH et al. 2014: 365 |
| Distribution | Indian Ocean: New Caledonia, Loyalty Islands; single specimens have been reported from New Zealand, and the Caroline Islands. Type locality: Porc-épic Island, Le Lagon, near Noumea, New Caledonia. |
| Reproduction | oviparous |
| Types | Holotype: MNHN-RA 2013.1032 (formerly AMS R162999), adult male; paratypes: AMS (Australian Museum Sydney) |
| Diagnosis | Diagnosis. A banded sea krait of the genus Laticauda characterized by the possession of a yellow or cream upper lip, an undivided rostral scale, usually 21 mid-body scale rows in both sexes (but occasionally 23 or rarely 25 rows. mode 21 in both sexes), ventral scales from 211 to 224 in males and from 215 to 230 in females, and a maximum snout-vent length (SVL) of 817 mm (males) and 1090 mm (females). It can be distinguished from L. laticaudata and L. crockeri by its yellow under lip (black or dark brown in laticaudata and crockeri) and from L. semifasciata and L. schistorhyncha by its pale upper lip and undivided rostral (upper lip brown and rostral divided in semifasciata and schistorhyncha). From the nearest populations (Fiji and Vanuatu) of its allopatric congener L. colubrina it may be distinguished by a lower modal mid-body scale row count of 21, its lower ventral scale counts (Table 1, Fig. 8); smaller size (Table 1); dark body bands either not meeting ventrally or narrowing ventrally, often with a pale mid-ventral blotch: and its distinctive body colour in which the paler bands are predominently brown (fawn to rich russet vs steely grey or blue in L. colubrina). From L. frontalis is may be distinguished by its larger size and higher ventral and subcaudal counts (Table 1) and the distinctive brown dorsal colour (grey or blue-grey in frontalis). (Cogger & Heatwole 2006) |
| Comment | Venomous! Synonymy after HEATWOLE et al 2005. Laticauda saintgironsi consists of populations of L. colubrina s.l. found around the coast and in the coastal waters of the main island of New Caledonia. Habitat: marine. Distribution: Not in India fide I. Das (pers. comm., 22 Dec 2011). See maps in Gherghel et al. 2016, Heatwole et al. 2017. |
| Etymology | Named after the late Dr Hubert Saint Girons, whose many outstanding contributions to international herpetology ranged across disciplines and continents. In order for Future workers to clearly identify the patronym, the name saintgironsi is formed directly from the modern personal name as a noun in the genitive case. |
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