Laticauda Laurenti

Rasmussen, Arne Redsted, Elmberg, Johan, Gravlund, Peter & Ineich, Ivan, 2011, Sea snakes (Serpentes: subfamilies Hydrophiinae and Laticaudinae) in Vietnam: a comprehensive checklist and an updated identification key, Zootaxa 2894, pp. 1-20 : 9

Laticauda Laurenti

Laticauda colubrina (Schneider) : ( McCarthy, 1986; Heatwole et al., 2005; Kharin, 2006).

Diagnostic characters: Head shields large, nasals separated by internasals, upper lips yellow. Scale rows around neck 21–23; scale rows around body 21–25; ventrals 213–245. Colouration: Body bluish-grey above, yellow or whitish below, with black bands of more or less uniform width throughout. Head black except snout, upper lips and a stripe extending back above the eye to the temporal region, which are all yellow. Size: 142 cm. General distribution: Indo-Malayan Archipelago, South China Sea, Philippines, Indonesia, Australian region east to Fiji and Vanuatu ( David & Ineich, 1999; Heatwole et al., 2005; Cogger & Heatwole, 2006).

Laticauda laticaudata (Linnaeus) : not yet found in Vietnamese waters.

Diagnostic characters Head shields large, nasals separated by internasals, upper lips dark. Scale rows around neck 19; scale rows around body 19; ventrals 225–243. Colouration: Body bluish-grey above, yellow or whitish below, with black bands. Head with a pale horseshoe-shaped mark above, which may or may not curve down behind eye. Size: 110 cm. General distribution: Andaman Sea, Indo-Malayan Archipelago, Gulf of Thailand, South China Sea, Philippines, Indonesia and Australian region ( Smith, 1926; McCarthy, 1986; Zhao & Adler, 1993; David & Ineich, 1999; Heatwole et al., 2005).

Laticauda semifasciata (Reinwardt in Schlegel): not yet found in Vietnamese waters ( Kharin, 2009).

Diagnostic characters Head shields large, nasals separated by internasals, upper lips dark. Scale rows around neck 21–23; scale rows around body 21–23; ventrals 195–210. Colouration: Body bluish-grey green above, yellowish below, with black bands. Head dark brown with a yellow curved mark above, connecting posteriorly with yellow band at back of head. With age, become brownish and markings less apparent ( Smith, 1926). Size: 135 cm. General distribution: Philippines, China, Taiwan, Japan and Russia ( Smith, 1926; Zhao & Adler, 1993; David & Ineich, 1999; Kharin, 2009).