Hydrophis [Lapemis] curtus Shaw, 1802, 1801

Leviton, Alan E., Siler, Cameron D., Weinell, Jeffrey L. & Brown, Rafe M., 2018, Synopsis of the Snakes of the Philippines A Synthesis of Data from Biodiversity Repositories, Field Studies, and the Literature, Proceedings of the California Academy of Sciences (Oxford, England) 64 (14), pp. 399-568 : 461-462

Hydrophis [Lapemis] curtus Shaw, 1802

Photo figure 96

Short or Hardwicke’s Sea Snake

Lapemis curtus Shaw, 1802:562 .— Zhao and Adler, 1993:269.— Gritis and Voris, 1990:1–11.— Whitaker and Captain, 2004:398, photo (p. 399). McCarthy, 1993d:244.— David and Ineich, 1999:121.— Wallach, Williams, and Boundy, 2014:354.

Lapemis hardwickii Gray in Hardwicke and Gray, 1835, vol. 2, pl. 87.— Smith, 1926:108, fig. 32, pl. 1, fig. 3; 1943:468, figs. 148–149.— Brown, Ferner, Sison, Gonzales, and Kennedy, 1996:14.— Ferner, Brown, Sison, and Kennedy, 2001:54 [21].— Devan-Song and Brown, 2012:14.

Lapemis curtus hardwickii, McCarthy, 1993d:244 .

Hydrophis curtis, Sanders, Lee, Mumpuni, Bertozzi, and Rasmussen, 2013:579 et seq.— Pyron, Burbrink, and Wiens, 2013:28, fig. 24.

Hydrophis [Lapemis] curtus, Leviton, Brown, and Siler, 2014:504 , figs. 27D, 28–29 , 37–38.

TYPE LOCALITY AND TYPE SPECIMEN (S).— India. Holotype: BMNH 1946.1.17.59 (formerly BMNH III.2.2.a ; fide Smith [1926:110]).

PHILIPPINE DISTRIBUTION ( Map 17B [p. 128]).— Luzon (Prov.: Cavite [Manila Bay], Manila [Manila Bay], Pangasian [Lingayen Gulf], Rizal, Zambales), Mindanao (Prov.: Zamboanga del Sur [Zamboanga City]), Negros (Prov.: Negros Occidental), (also reported from the Visayan Sea [fide Alcala {1986:170}], and listed from Negros and Panay [fide Wallach et al. {2014:355}]).

GENERAL DISTRIBUTION (OTHER THAN PHILIPPINES).— Widely distributed, from the Persian Gulf to Austrakalia, along the southeast coast of India to Straits of Malacca, Indonesia, Australia, and north to China, Taiwan, and Japan. (See Wallach et al. [2014:354] for details.)

REMARKS.— Gritis and Voris (1990) do not recognize Lapemis hardwickii [now Hydrophis hardwicki ] as a distinct species, placing it in the synonymy of L. curtus . McCarthy (1993) recognized it as a subspecies of L. curtus , allowing that the nominate form inhabits coastal waters from the Persian Gulf to the shores of western India, and L. curtus hardwickii ranges from the coastal waters of Sri Lanka and eastern India to New Guinea and Australia and north to the coast of China, the Philippines, and Japan (see also David and Ineich [1999:121–122]). Smith (1926:113, 1943:471) argued that L. curtus ranges from the Persian Gulf to the west coast of India as far as Sri Lanka but that it is unknown along the east coast of India. We follow Gritis and Voris inasmuch as theirs is the most comprehensive analysis of character variation done so far, and based on their study there are no mophological features that justify recognizing two species although we emphasize that recent phylogenetic studies ( Sanders et al. [2013]) place the genus Lapemis and its included species in the genus Hydrophis .

CONSERVATION STATUS [IUCN].— Least Concern [2016] ver. 3.1.

Figures

FIGURE 28. Boiga angulata (Laguna Prov., Luzon Id.) (KU uncat.; field no. RMB 19777). Photo © RMB.

FIGURE 37. Coelognathus erythrurus erythrurus (Eastern Samar Prov., Samar Id.) (KU 344143). Photo © RMB.