Hydrophis is a genus of sea snakes, venomous snakes in the subfamily Hydrophiinae of the family Elapidae. Species in the genus Hydrophis are typically found in Indo-Australian and Southeast Asian waters. Currently, around 36 species are recognized as being valid.
Systematics and classification There are more than 30 recognized species in the genus. SpeciesAuthoritySubsp.*Common nameGeographic rangeH. annandalei(Laidlaw, 1901)0bighead sea snake, Annandale's sea snakeIndian OceanH. anomalusP. Schmidt, 18520anomalous sea snakeSouth Chinese Sea, Indian OceanH. atricepsGünther, 18640black-headed sea snakeH. belcheri(Gray, 1849)0Belcher's sea snakeQueensland and New Territories, AustraliaH. bituberculatusW. Peters, 18730 Peters' sea snake Indian Ocean (Sri Lanka, Thailand)H. brookiiGünther, 18720Brooke's sea snakeH. caerulescens(Shaw, 1802)2dwarf sea snakeQueensland, AustraliaH. cantorisGünther, 18640Cantor's narrow-headed sea snake, Cantor's small-headed sea snakeH. coggeri(Kharin, 1984)0slender-necked sea snake, Cogger's sea snakeBeolens, Bo; Watkins, Michael; Grayson, Michael (2011). The Eponym Dictionary of Reptiles. Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press. xiii + 296 pp. . (Hydrophis coggeri, p. 56; H. laboutei, p. 149).Western AustraliaH. curtus(Shaw, 1802)0Shaw's sea snake, short sea snake, Hardwicke's sea snake, spine-bellied sea snakeH. cyanocinctusDaudin, 18030annulated sea snake, blue-banded sea snakeH. czeblukovi(Kharin, 1984)0fine-spined sea snakeH. donaldiUkuwela, Sanders & Fry, 2012rough-scaled sea snakeNorthern AustraliaH. elegans(Gray, 1842)0elegant sea snakeH. fasciatus(Schneider, 1799)0striped sea snakeH. hardwickii(Gray, 1834)0Hardwicke's spine-bellied sea snakeH. inornatus(Gray, 1849)0plain sea snakeWestern AustraliaH. jerdonii(Gray, 1849)2Jerdon's sea snakeIndian OceanH. kingiiBoulenger, 18960King's sea snakeH. klossiBoulenger, 19120Kloss' sea snakeH. labouteiRasmussen & Ineich, 20000Laboute's sea snakeNew CaledoniaH. lambertiM.A. Smith, 19170Lambert's sea snakeH. lapemoides(Gray, 1849)0Persian Gulf sea snakeH. macdowelliKharin, 19830small-headed sea snake, McDowell's sea snakeWestern AustraliaH. major(Shaw, 1802)0greater sea snake, olive-headed sea snakeH. mamillaris(Daudin, 1803)0Bombay sea snakeH. melanocephalusGray, 18490slender-necked sea snakeH. melanosomaGünther, 18640black-banded robust sea snakeH. nigrocinctusDaudin, 18030black-banded sea snakeSunderbans,(Bangladesh, India)H. obscurusDaudin, 18030estuarine sea snake, Russel's sea snakeH. ocellatus(Gray, 1849)0spotted sea snakeH. ornatus(Gray, 1842)4ornate reef sea snakeH. pacificusBoulenger, 18960large-headed sea snakeH. parvicepsM.A. Smith, 19350Smith's small-headed sea snakeH. peronii(A.M.C. Duméril, 1853)0Peron's sea snakeH. platurusLinnaeus, 17660yellow-bellied sea snakeH. schistosusDaudin, 18030beaked sea snakeIndian Ocean and Persian Gulf to Pacific OceanH. semperiGarman, 18810Lake Taal snake, Garman's sea snake, Philippine freshwater sea snake, Luzon sea snakeH. sibauensisA. Rasmussen, Auliya & W. Böhme, 20010Kalimantan sea snakeH. spiralis(Shaw, 1802)0yellow sea snakeH. stokesii(Gray, 1846)0Stokes' sea snake, Stokes's sea snakeH. stricticollisGünther, 18640collared sea snakeH. torquatusGünther, 18642west coast black-headed sea snakeH. viperinusP. Schmidt, 18520viperine sea snake Persian Gulf and Western Indian Ocean to Western Pacific OceanH. vorisiKharin, 19840estuarine sea snakeTorres Strait, QueenslandH. zweifeli(Kharin, 1985)0Sepik beaked sea snake, Zweifel's beaked sea snake (downloaded Feb. 18,2010.) *) Not including the nominate subspecies (typical form).
Nota bene: A binomial authority in parentheses indicates that the species was originally described in a genus other than Hydrophis.
See also Sea snake Snakebite
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