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Hydrophis curtus (SHAW, 1802)

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Higher TaxaElapidae (Hydrophiinae), Colubroidea, Caenophidia, Alethinophidia, Serpentes, Squamata (snakes)
Subspecies 
Common NamesE: Shaw's Sea Snake, Short Sea Snake, Hardwicke’s Sea Snake, Spine-bellied Sea Snake
Farsi: Mâr-e daryâï-ye kutâh
Chinese: 平颏海蛇 
SynonymHydrus Curtus SHAW 1802: 502
Hydrophis pelamidoides SCHLEGEL 1837: 187
Lapemis curtus — GRAY 1842
Lapemis loreatus GRAY 1843: 46
Hydrophis pelamidoides — DUMÉRIL & BIBRON 1854: 1345
Hydrophis (Pelamis) pelamidoides var. annulata FISCHER 1855
Hydrophis (Pelamis) pelamidoides — FISCHER 1856: 64
Hydrophis (Pelamis) pelamidoides var. annulata FISCHER 1856: 67
Hydrophis propinquus JAN 1859
Hydrophis abbreviatus JAN 1863: 109
Hydrophis brevis JAN 1863: 109
Hydrophis fayreriana ANDERSON 1871: 19
Hydrophis pelamoides HILGENDORF 1876: 31 (in error)
Hydrophis hardwickei — BOETTGER 1888: 150 (emendation)
Enhydris curtus — WERNER 1896
Enhydris curtus — BOULENGER 1896
Lapemis curtus — RASMUSSEN 1997
Lapemis curtus — MURPHY, COX & VORIS 1999
Lapemis curtus — WILSON & SWAN 2010: 532
Lapemis curtus — RASMUSSEN et al. 2011
Hydrophis curtus — SANDERS et al. 2012 [by implication]
Lapemis curtus — WALLACH et al. 2014: 362
Lapemis curtus — COGGER 2014: 813
Lapemis curtus — CHAN-ARD et al. 2015: 263
Lapemis curtus — MILTO & LUKIN 2020 
DistributionPersian Gulf (Oman, United Arab Emirates, Iran)
Indian Ocean (Pakistan, Sri Lanka, India: Kerala, Gujarat), Vietnam,
South China Sea north to the coasts of Fujian and Shandong
Strait of Taiwan, Bangladesh,
Indoaustralian Archipelago
North coast of Australia (Northern Territory, Queensland, Western Australia)
Philippines (Panay etc.)
Pacific Ocean (Myanmar (= Burma), Thailand, Indonesia, China, New Guinea), Malaysia (Borneo: incl. Sabah, Sarawak)

Type locality: None given, but Shaw states that it is an "East-Indian species.").  
Reproductionovovivparous 
TypesHolotype: BMNH 1946.1.17.59 (formerly BMNH III.2.1.a), "An East-Indian species".
Holotype: MCZ 20647 [abbreviatus] 
DiagnosisDiagnosis: Scales in the lowermost three or four lateral rows are larger than the others. Scale rows around neck 23–35; scale rows around body 25–43. Ventrals small, 114–230, usually distinct anteriorly, very small or absent posteriorly. Maxillary teeth behind fangs 3–6. Colouration: Body greenish or yellowish above, whitish below, with dark greenish to black bands, which sometimes fuse longitudinally dorsally, narrowing laterally. However, in some specimens bands meet below, encircling the body.


Additional details (103 characters) are available for collaborators and contributors. Please contact us for details. 
CommentVenomous!

Synonymy: Voris and Gritis (1990) included Lapemis hardwickii Gray, 1834 in the synonymy of L. curtus Shaw, 1802. Remaining synonymy mainly after STEJNEGER 1907.

Distribution not yet corrected for resurrection of hardwickii from curtus. For a map see Sindaco et al. 2013. Records from Japan are doubtful and there are apparently no known voucher specimens (Ibuki Fukuyama, pers. comm., 8 Sep 2023)

Habitat: marine.

Genome: Ludington et al. 2023. 
EtymologyThe specific epithet curtus (Latin) means short or incomplete, possibly referring to the short overall body length. 
References
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