Hydrophis, Latreille, 1801

Leviton, Alan E., Siler, Cameron D., Weinell, Jeffrey L. & Brown, Rafe M., 2018, Synopsis of the Snakes of the Philippines, Proceedings of the California Academy of Sciences 64 (14), pp. 399-568 : 467

Hydrophis [ Praescutata ; Thalassophina ] viperinus ( Schmidt, 1852)

Grey Sea Snake

Thalassophis viperina Schmidt, 1852:79 , pl. 3.

Thalassophina viperina, Smith, 1926:33 , fig. 16.— Rasmussen, 1997:23.— Wallach, Williams, and Boundy, 2014:702.

Praescutata viperina, David and Ineich, 1999:177 .— Stuebing and Inger, 1999:220.

Hydrophis [ Praescutata ] viperinus, Leviton, Brown, and Siler, 2014:512 .

TYPE LOCALITY AND TYPE SPECIMEN (S).— Java, Indonesia. Holotype: NMH (also as ZMH) 404 (fide Smith [1926:35]).

PHILIPPINE DISTRIBUTION.— Philippines (not yet reported from coastal Philippine waters but present in the South China Sea and Gulf of Thailand).

GENERAL DISTRIBUTION (OTHER THAN PHILIPPINES).— Widely distributed from Persian/Arabian Gulf to eastern Asia, including off the coasts of northern Borneo (Sarawak), Thailand, Vietnam, China, as far north as Taiwan (for details see David and Ineich [1999:177]; Stuebing and Inger [1999:220]; Wallach et al. [2014:702]), as well as eastward to northern Australia and into the western Pacific ( Zug [2013:231]).

REMARKS.— We have tentatively assigned this species to Hydrophis consistent with the treatments of Hydrophis and related nominal genera by Sanders et al. (2013) and Pyron et al. (2013).

CONSERVATION STATUS [IUCN].— The conservation status of Hydrophis viperinus has not been assessed for the IUCN Red List [2016] ver. 3.1, but IUCN notes that it is listed in the Catalogue of Life.