You are here » home › search results › Hydrophis ornatus

Hydrophis ornatus (GRAY, 1842)

IUCN Red List - Hydrophis ornatus - Least Concern, LC
iNaturalist logo

Can you confirm these amateur observations of Hydrophis ornatus?

Add your own observation of
Hydrophis ornatus »

We have no photos, try to find some by Google images search: Google images

Higher TaxaElapidae (Hydrophiinae), Colubroidea, Caenophidia, Alethinophidia, Serpentes, Squamata (snakes)
SubspeciesHydrophis ornatus godeffroyi (PETERS 1873)
Hydrophis ornatus maresinensis (MITTLEMAN 1947)
Hydrophis ornatus ornatus (GRAY 1842) 
Common NamesE: Ornate Reef seasnake
Farsi: Mâr-e daryâï-ye ârâsteh
Chinese: 淡灰海蛇 
SynonymAturia ornata GRAY 1842: 61
Hydrophis laevis LÜTKEN 1863
Hydrophis ellioti GÜNTHER 1864
Hydrophis ornata — GÜNTHER 1864
Hydrophis Ellioti — BOULENGER 1887: 408
Distira andamanica ANNANDALE 1905
Distira mjobergi LÖNNBERG & ANDERSSON 1913
Hydrophis lamberti SMITH 1917
Disteira ornata — TAYLOR 1922
Hydrophis inornatus — SMITH 1926
Hydrophis ornatus — SMITH 1943
Hydrophis (Aturia) ornatus — MCDOWELL 1972: 229
Hydrophis ornatus — TAMIYA et al. 1983
Aturia ornata — WELCH 1994: 25
Hydrophis ornatus — MURPHY, COX & VORIS 1999
Hydrophis ornatus — COGGER 2000: 718
Chitulia ornata — KHARIN 2005
Hydrophis ornatus — NGUYEN et al. 2009
Hydrophis ornatus — WILSON & SWAN 2010: 530
Hydrophis ornata — RASMUSSEN et al. 2011
Chitulia ornata — KHARIN & DOTSENKO 2012
Hydrophis ornatus — SANDERS et al. 2012
Chitulia ornata — WALLACH et al. 2014: 166
Chitulia ornata — CHAN-ARD et al. 2015: 278

Hydrophis ornatus godeffroyi PETERS 1873
Hydrophis godeffroyi PETERS 1873
Distira godeffroyi — BOULENGER 1896: 291
Disteira godeffroyi — STEJNEGER 1907: 430
Hydrophis ornata godeffroyi — MAKI 1931
Hydrophis godeffroyi — MITTLEMAN 1947
Hydrophis ornatus godeffroyi — NGUYEN et al. 2009: 407

Hydrophis ornatus maresinensis MITTLEMAN 1947
Hydrophis ornatus maresinensis MITTLEMAN 1947: 3
Hydrophis ornatus maresinensis — GORIS & MAEDA 2004: 254
Hydrophis ornatus maresianus — NGUYEN et al. 2009: 407 (in error)

Hydrophis ornatus ornatus (GRAY 1842)
Aturia ornata GRAY 1842
Distira ornata BOULENGER 1896
Hydrophis ornatus ornatus — MITTLEMAN 1947
Hydrophis ornatus ornatus — NGUYEN et al. 2009: 407 
DistributionIndian Ocean (Pakistan, Sri Lanka, India (Kerala), Indonesia (Borneo), Papua New Guinea, Malaysia, Vietnam, Myanmar,
South Chinese Sea (China: Coasts of Guangxi, Guangdong, Hainan, Taiwan, Shandong), Japan (Ryukyu),
Persian Gulf (Oman, United Arab Emirates, Iran) through Indian Ocean
Indoaustralian Archipelago, Philippines, Gulf of Thailand,
Australia (Western Australia, Northern Territory, Queensland, New South Wales)

New Caledonia/Loyalty Islands, Solomon Islands [McCoy 2000]

godeffroyi: Vietnam, Japan,

maresinensis: Japan, China

Type locality: not given  
Reproductionovovivparous 
TypesHolotype: BMNH 1946.1.23.72
Holotype: BMNH III.g.9.a [ocellatus]
type: ZMUC [laevis]
Holotype: NRM [Distira mjobergi]
Holotype: USNM 33933, paratype: USNM [maresinensis]
Holotype: ZMB 7593 [godeffroyi] 
DiagnosisDIAGNOSIS: Scales on thickest part of body more or less hexagonal in shape, feebly imbricate or juxtaposed; 10–13 maxillary teeth behind fangs; head large; body robust, not elongate, greatest diameter posteriorly about twice that of the neck; 1 preocular; 2 postoculars; 2 anterior temporals; –8 upper labials; scale rows on neck: male 28–37, female 31–45, on thickest part of body, male 33–45, female 39–55 (increase from neck to midbody 4–12); ventrals distinct throughout, in male 209–260, in female 236–312, anteriorly ventrals about twice as large as adjacent scales, narrowing posteriorly; above grayish or light olive to almost white with broad dark bars or rhomboidal spots separated by narrow interspaces; below yellowish or whitish. Total length ♂ 950 mm, ♀ 860; tail length ♂ 115 mm, ♀ 80 mm. [after LEVITON 2003, see also REZAIE-ATAGHOLIPOUR et al. 2016]


Additional details (2196 characters) are available for collaborators and contributors. Please contact us for details. 
CommentVenomous!

Synonymy: According to GOLAY et al. 1993, Hydrophis ornatus godeffroyi has been synonymized with Hydrophis ornatus ornatus. COGGER 2000 questions the validity of ocellatus without giving specific reasons. By contrast, Hydrophis ornatus ocellatus has been treated as valid species more recently, but does not occur in Australia (Rasmussen et al. 2014).

Habitat: marine.

Distribution: For a map see Sindaco et al. 2013. Not in Hong Kong fide Francis 2021

Type species: Aturia ornata GRAY 1842: 61 is the type species of the genus Aturia GRAY 1842, now considered as a synonym of Hydrophis.

Genome: Ludington et al. 2023. 
EtymologyHydrophis ornatus godeffroyi has been named after Johann Cesar Godeffroy (1813-1885), a German merchant who founded the Museum Godeffroy in 1861.  
References
  • Bauer, A. M. & SADLIER, R. A. 2000. The herpetofauna of New Caledonia. Contributions to Herpetology, 17; Society for Study Amphibians and Reptiles, Ithaca, New York.
  • Boettger, O. 1888. Über äußere Geschlechtscharactere bei Seeschlangen. Zool. Anz. 11: 395-398 - get paper here
  • Boulenger, G.A. 1887. A list of the reptiles and batrachians obtained near Muscat, Arabia, and presented to the British Museum by Surgeon-Major A.S.G. Jayakar. Ann. Mag. Nat. Hist. (5) 20: 407-408 - get paper here
  • Bussarawitt,S.; Rasmussen, A.R. & Andersen, M. 1989. A preliminary study on sea snakes (Hydrophiidae) from Phuket Harbor, Phuket Island, Thailand. Nat. Hist. Bull. Siam Soc., Bangkok 37 (2): 209-225
  • Buzás, Balázs; Balázs Farkas, Eszter Gulyás & Csaba Géczy 2018. The sea snakes (Elapidae: Hydrophiinae) of Fujairah. Tribulus 26: 4-31
  • Carranza S, Xipell M, Tarroso P, Gardner A, Arnold EN, Robinson MD, et al. 2018. Diversity, distribution and conservation of the terrestrial reptiles of Oman (Sauropsida, Squamata). PLoS One 13 (2): e0190389 - get paper here
  • Carranza, Salvador; Johannes Els; Bernat Burriel-Carranza 2021. A field guide to the reptiles of Oman. Madrid : Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas, 223 pp. [review in HR 53 (3): 531] - get paper here
  • 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
  • Cogger, H. G. 2014. Reptiles and Amphibians of Australia, 7th ed. CSIRO Publishing, xxx + 1033 pp. - get paper here
  • Cogger, H.G. 2000. Reptiles and Amphibians of Australia, 6th ed. Ralph Curtis Publishing, Sanibel Island, 808 pp.
  • Corkill, N. L. and Cochrane, J. A. 1966. The snakes of the Arabian Peninsula and Socotra. J. Bombay nat. Hist. Soc. 62 (3): 475-506 (1965) - get paper here
  • Das, I. 2012. A Naturalist's Guide to the Snakes of South-East Asia: Malaysia, Singapore, Thailand, Myanmar, Borneo, Sumatra, Java and Bali. Oxford J, ohn Beaufoy Publishing - get paper here
  • Dowling, H.G., & Jenner, J.V. 1988. Snakes of Burma: checklist of reported species and bibliography. Smithsonian Herp. Inf. Serv. (76): 19 pp. - get paper here
  • Dunson, William A.;Minton, Sherman A. 1978. Diversity, distribution, and Ecology of Philippine Marine Snakes (Reptilia, Serpentes). Journal of Herpetology 12 (3): 281-286 - get paper here
  • Fujishima, Kanta; Takahide Sasai, Yusuke Hibino & Hideaki Nishizawa 2021. Morphology, Diet, and Reproduction of Coastal Hydrophis Sea Snakes (Elapidae: Hydrophiinae) at Their Northern Distribution Limit. Zoological Science Oct 2021 Vol. 38, No. 5: 405-415 - get paper here
  • Ganesh, S., Nandhini, T., Samuel, V., Sreeraj, C., Abhilash, K., Purvaja, R., & Ramesh, R. 2019. Marine snakes of Indian coasts: historical resume, systematic checklist, toxinology, status, and identification key. Journal of Threatened Taxa, 11(1), 13132-13150 - get paper here
  • Gardner, A.S. 2013. The amphibians and reptiles of Oman and the UAE. Edition Chimaira, 480 pp.
  • Gasperetti,J. 1988. Snakes of Arabia. Fauna of Saudi Arabia 9: 169-450
  • Geniez, Philippe 2018. Snakes of Europe, North Africa and the Middle East. Princeton University Press, 384 pp. - get paper here
  • Goris, R.C. & Maeda, N. 2004. Guide to the Amphibians and Reptiles of Japan. Krieger, Malabar, 285 pp.
  • Grandison, A. G. C. 1978. Snakes of West Malaysia and Singapore. Annalen des Naturhistorischen Museums in Wien 81 [1977]: 283-303 - get paper here
  • Gray, J. E. 1842. Monographic Synopsis of the Water Snakes, or the Family of Hydridae. Zoological Miscellany 2: 59-68. - get paper here
  • Heatwole, H. 1999. Sea snakes, 2nd ed. Krieger, Malabar, 148 pp. [review in Copeia 2000 (4): 1136] - get paper here
  • Jongbloed, M. 2000. Field Guide to the reptiles and amphibians of the UAE - Wild about reptiles. Barkers Trident Communications, 116 pp.
  • Kamali, Kamran 2020. A Field Guide to the Reptiles and Amphibians of Iran. Edition Chimaira, Frankfurt am Main, Germany (www.chimaira.de). 574 pp.
  • Karthikeyan S. & Balasubramanian, T. 2007. Species diversity of Sea Snake (Hydrophiidae) distributed in the Coramantal Coast (East Coast of India). Int. J. Zool. res. 3 (3): 107-131
  • Kharin, V.E. 2008. Biota of the Russian Waters of the Sea of Japan Vol. 7 - Reptilians [in English and Russian]. Vladivostok, Dalnauka, 170 pp.
  • Kharin, V.E. 2009. Redescription of a Russian Finding of the Erabu Sea Krait Pseudolaticauda semifasciata (Reinwardt in Schlegel, 1837), with Remarks about Species Composition of Sea Snakes (Serpentes: Laticaudidae, Hydrophiidae) in Russian and Adjacent Waters. Russian Journal of Marine Biology 35 (1): 8–14 - 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
  • Kharin, Vladimir E.; Jakob Hallermann 2009. Annotated catalogue of sea kraits (Laticaudidae) and sea snakes (Hydrophiidae) of the herpetological collection of the Zoological Museum, University of Hamburg. Mitt. hamb. zool. Mus. Inst. 106: 51-67
  • Kutsuma, Ryo; Takahide Sasai and Takushi Kishida 2018. How Snakes Find Prey Underwater: Sea Snakes Use Visual and Chemical Cues for Foraging. Zoological Science Dec 2018, Vol. 35, No. 6: 483-486. - get paper here
  • Leviton, A.E., R.M. Brown, and C.D. Siler. 2014. The dangerously venomous snakes of the Philippine Archipelago. in The Coral Triangle: The 2011 Hearst Biodiversity Philippine Expedition (G.C. Williams and T.M. Gosliner, eds.). California Academy of Sciences, USA, Pp 473–530
  • Leviton, Alan E.; Guinevere O.U. Wogan; Michelle S. Koo; George R. Zug; Rhonda S. Lucas and Jens V. Vindum 2003. The Dangerously Venomous Snakes of Myanmar Illustrated Checklist with Keys. Proc. Cal. Acad. Sci. 54 (24): 407–462 - get paper here
  • Lillywhite, Harvey B. 2014. How Snakes Work: Structure, Function and Behavior of the World's Snakes. Oxford University Press, New York, 256 pp
  • Ludington, A.J., Hammond, J.M., Breen, J. et al. 2023. New chromosome-scale genomes provide insights into marine adaptations of sea snakes (Hydrophis: Elapidae). BMC Biol 21, 284 (2023) - get paper here
  • Maki, M. 1931. Monograph of the Snakes of Japan. Dai-ichi Shobo, Tokyo. (1), 7, 240 pages (expanded edition 1933)
  • McCoy, M. 2000. Reptiles of the Solomon Islands. ZooGraphics, Kuranda (Australia), CD-ROM.
  • McCoy, M. 2006. Reptiles of the Solomon Islands. Pensoft Series Faunistica 57, 212 pp.
  • McCoy, M. 2015. A Field Guide to the Reptiles of the Solomon Islands. Michael McCoy, Kuranda - 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
  • Mittleman, M. B. 1947. Geographic variation in the sea snake, Hydrophis ornatus (Gray). Proc. Biol. Soc. Washington 60: 1-8 - get paper here
  • Mori,M. 1982. Japans Schlangen, Vols. 1-3 (80, 102, 123 pp.). Tokyo (Igaku-Shoin Ltd.) [bilingual edition in German and Japanese]
  • 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.
  • O’Shea,M. 1996. A Guide to the Snakes of Papua New Guinea. Independent Publishing, Port Moresby, xii + 239 pp. - get paper here
  • Palot, M.J. 2015. A checklist of reptiles of Kerala, India. Journal of Threatened Taxa 7(13): 8010–8022 - get paper here
  • Peters, Wilhem Carl Hartwig 1873. Hr. W. Peters las über den Hydrus fasciatus Schneider und einige andere Seeschlangen. Monatsber. königl. Akad. Wiss. Berlin. 1872 (December): 848-861 - get paper here
  • Porter, Robert; Irwin, Steve; Irwin, Terri;Rodrigues, Keith 1997. Records of marine snake species from the Hey-Embley and Mission Rivers, far North Queensland. Herpetofauna (Sydney) 27 (2): 2-7
  • Rajabizadeh, M. 2018. Snakes of Iran. [in Farsi] Tehran: Iranshenasi, 496 pp. [2017 ?] - get paper here
  • Rasmussen, A. R. & I. INEICH 2000. Sea snakes of New Caledonia and surrounding waters (Serpentes: Elapidae): first report on the occurence of Lapemis curtus and description of new species from the genus Hydrophis. Hamadryad 25 (2): 91-99 - 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
  • Rasmussen,A.R. 1989. An analysis of Hydrophis ornatus (Gray), H. lamberti Smith, and H. inornatus (Gray) (Hydrophiidae, Serpentes) based on samples from various localities, with remarks on feeding and breeding biology of H. ornatus. Amphibia-Reptilia 10: 397-417 - get paper here
  • RASTEGAR-POUYANI, NASRULLAH; HAJI GHOLI KAMI, MEHDI RAJABZADEH, SOHEILA SHAFIEI AND STEVEN CLEMENT ANDERSON 2008. Annotated Checklist of Amphibians and Reptiles of Iran. Iranian Journal of Animal Biosystematics 4 (1): 7-30
  • Rezaie-Atagholipour M, Ghezellou P, Hesni MA, Dakhteh SMH, Ahmadian H, Vidal N 2016. Sea snakes (Elapidae, Hydrophiinae) in their westernmost extent: an updated and illustrated checklist and key to the species in the Persian Gulf and Gulf of Oman. ZooKeys 622: 129–164, doi: 10.3897/zookeys.622.9939 - get paper here
  • Sanders, K.L.; Michael S.Y. Lee, Mumpuni, Terry Bertozzi, Arne R. Rasmussen 2012. Multilocus phylogeny and recent rapid radiation of the viviparous sea snakes (Elapidae: Hydrophiinae). Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution 66 (3): 575-591 - get paper here
  • Sharma, R. C. 2004. Handbook Indian Snakes. AKHIL BOOKS, New Delhi, 292 pp.
  • Shine, Richard; Claire Goiran, Catherine Shilton, Shai Meiri, Gregory P Brown 2019. The life aquatic: an association between habitat type and skin thickness in snakes. Biological Journal of the Linnean Society, blz136 - get paper here
  • Sindaco, R.; Alberto Venchi & Cristina Grieco 2013. The Reptiles of the Western Palearctic, Volume 2: Annotated Checklist and Distributional Atlas of the Snakes of Europe, North Africa, Middle East and Central Asia, with an Update to Volume 1. Edizioni Belvedere, Latina (Italy), 543 pp. - 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.
  • Somaweera, R. & N. Somaweera 2009. An overview of Sri Lankan Sea snakes with an annotated checklist and a field key. Taprobanica 1 (1): 43-54 - get paper here
  • Stejneger, LEONHARD H. 1907. Herpetology of Japan and adjacent territory. Bull. US Natl. Mus. 58: xx, 1-577 - get paper here
  • 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. & Voris, H.K. 1990. Relative abundance of marine snakes on the West coast of Sabah, Malaysia. Journal of Herpetology 24 (2): 201-202 - 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)
  • Swan, G.; Sadlier, R.; Shea, G. 2017. A field guide to reptiles of New South Wales. Reed New Holland, 328 pp.
  • Taylor,E.H. 1965. The serpents of Thailand and adjacent waters. Univ. Kansas Sci. Bull. 45 (9): 609-1096 - get paper here
  • Ukuwela, K.D.B., de Silva, A., Sivaruban, A. et al. 2022. Diversity, distribution, and natural history of the marine snakes of Sri Lanka. Marine Biodiversity 52, 24 (2022) - get paper here
  • Volsøe, H. 1939. The sea-snakes of the Iranian Gulf and the Gulf of Oman. Danish Scientific Investigation in Iran 1: 9-45
  • 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, F. 1918. Notes on a Collection of Sea Snakes from Madras. J. Bombay Nat. Hist. Soc. 25: 599-607 - 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.
  • Wang, Kai; Jinlong Ren, Hongman Chen, Zhitong Lyu, Xianguang Guo Ke Jiang, Jinmin Chen, Jiatang Li, Peng Guo, Yingyong Wang, Jing Che 2020. The updated checklists of amphibians and reptiles of China. Biodiversity Science 28 (2): 189-218 - get paper here
  • Weinell, Jeffrey L.; Errol Hooper, Alan E. Leviton, Rafe M. Brown 2019. Illustrated Key to the Snakes of the Philippines. Proc. Cal. Acad. Sci. (4) 66 (1): 1-49 - get paper here
  • Whitaker, Romulus and Ashok Captain 2004. Snakes of India. Draco Books, 500 pp., reprinted 2007 - get paper here
  • Wilson, S. & Swan, G. 2010. A complete guide to reptiles of Australia, 3rd ed. Chatswood: New Holland, 558 pp.
  • Yaghmour, Fadi; Johannes Els, Clara Jimena Rodríguez-Zarate, Brendan Whittington-Jones 2023. Marine Reptiles of the United Arab Emirates. In: J. A. Burt (ed.), A Natural History of the Emirates. Springer, Cham, pp. 585-619 [2024] - get paper here
  • Zhao, E.M. 2006. The snakes of China [in Chinese]. Hefei, China, Anhui Sience & Technology Publ. House, Vol. I, 372 pp., Vol. II (color plates), 280 pp.
 
External links  
Is it interesting? Share with others:

As link to this species use URL address:

https://reptile-database.reptarium.cz/species?genus=Hydrophis&species=ornatus

without field 'search_param'. Field 'search_param' is used for browsing search result.



Please submit feedback about this entry to the curator