Hydrophis annandalei

Hydrophis annandalei, commonly known as Annandale's sea snake or the bighead sea snake, is a species of venomous sea snake in the subfamily Hydrophiinae of the family Elapidae. It is sometimes placed in its own genus Kolpophis.

Hydrophis annandalei
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Reptilia
Order: Squamata
Suborder: Serpentes
Family: Elapidae
Genus: Hydrophis
Species:
H. annandalei
Binomial name
Hydrophis annandalei
(Laidlaw, 1901)
Synonyms[2]
  • Distira annandalei
    Laidlaw, 1901
  • Kolpophis annandalei
    — M.A. Smith, 1926
  • Lapemis annandalei
    — Rasmussen, 1997
  • Kolpophis annandalei
    — Murphy, Cox & Voris, 1999

Etymology

The specific name, annandalei, is in honor of Scottish herpetologist Nelson Annandale.[3]

Geographic range

It is found in the Indian Ocean, in waters off Indonesia (Borneo, Java), western Malaysia, Singapore, Cambodia, Thailand, and southern Vietnam.[1][2]

Description

It may attain a snout-to-vent length (SVL) of 52 cm (20 in). Its coloration, which consists of dark crossbands on a bluish grey ground color dorsally, and which is uniform pale yellow or cream ventrally, is similar to that of other sea snakes. However, K. annandalei can be identified by its high number of dorsal scale rows, 74–93 at midbody.[4]

References
  1. Rasmussen A, Sanders K, Lobo A (2010). "Kolpophis annandalei ". IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. 2010: e.T176731A7292396. Retrieved 24 January 2020.CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
  2. Hydrophis annandalei at the Reptarium.cz Reptile Database. Accessed 24 January 2020.
  3. Beolens, Bo; Watkins, Michael; Grayson, Michael (2011). The Eponym Dictionary of Reptiles. Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press. xiii + 296 pp. ISBN 978-1-4214-0135-5. (Kolpophis annandalei, p. 9).
  4. Das I (2006). Snakes and other Reptiles of Borneo. Sanibel Island, Florida: Ralph Curtis Books. 144 pp. ISBN 0-88359-061-1. (Kolpophis annandalei, p. 68).

Further reading
  • Das I (1993). "Annandales's seasnake, Kolpophis annandalei (Laidlaw 1901): a new record for Borneo". Raffles Bull. Zool. 41: 359-361.
  • Laidlaw FF (1901). "List of a Collection of Snakes, Crocodiles, and Chelonians from the Malay Peninsula, made by Members of the “Skeat Expedition,” 1899–1900". Proc. Zool. Soc. Lond. 1901 (2): 575-583 + Plate XXXV. (Distira annandalei, new species, pp. 579–580 + Plate XXXV, figures 1 & 2).
  • Smith MA (1926). Monograph of the Sea Snakes (Hydrophiidae). London: British Museum (Natural History). xvii + 130 pp. (Kolpophis, new genus, p. 106; Kolpophis annandalei, new combination, p. 106).
  • Smith MA (1943). The Fauna of British India, Ceylon and Burma, Including the Whole of the Indo-Chinese Sub-region. Reptilia and Amphibia. Vol. III.—Serpentes. London: Secretary of State for India. (Taylor and Francis, printers). xii + 583 pp. (Kolpophis annandalei, pp. 467–468).


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