Hydrophis


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 range
H. annandalei0bighead sea snake, Annandale's sea snakeIndian Ocean
H. anomalusP. Schmidt, 18520anomalous sea snakeSouth Chinese Sea, Indian Ocean
H. atricepsGünther, 18640black-headed sea snake
H. belcheri0Belcher's sea snakeQueensland and New Territories, Australia
H. bituberculatusW. Peters, 18730Peters' sea snakeIndian Ocean
H. brookiiGünther, 18720Brooke's sea snake
H. caerulescens2dwarf sea snakeQueensland, Australia
H. cantorisGünther, 18640Cantor's narrow-headed sea snake, Cantor's small-headed sea snake
H. coggeri0slender-necked sea snake, Cogger's sea snakeWestern Australia
H. curtus0Shaw's sea snake, short sea snake, Hardwicke's sea snake, spine-bellied sea snake
H. cyanocinctusDaudin, 18030annulated sea snake, blue-banded sea snake
H. czeblukovi0fine-spined sea snake
H. donaldiUkuwela, Sanders
& Fry, 2012		rough-scaled sea snakeNorthern Australia
H. elegans0elegant sea snake
H. fasciatus0striped sea snake
H. hardwickii0Hardwicke's spine-bellied sea snake
H. inornatus0plain sea snakeWestern Australia
H. jerdonii2Jerdon's sea snakeIndian Ocean
H. kingiiBoulenger, 18960King's sea snake
H. klossiBoulenger, 19120Kloss' sea snake
H. labouteiRasmussen & Ineich, 20000Laboute's sea snakeNew Caledonia
H. lambertiM.A. Smith, 19170Lambert's sea snake
H. lapemoides0Persian Gulf sea snake
H. macdowelliKharin, 19830small-headed sea snake, McDowell's sea snakeWestern Australia
H. major0greater sea snake, olive-headed sea snake
H. mamillaris0Bombay sea snake
H. melanocephalusGray, 18490slender-necked sea snake
H. melanosomaGünther, 18640black-banded robust sea snake
H. nigrocinctusDaudin, 18030black-banded sea snakeSunderbans,
H. obscurusDaudin, 18030estuarine sea snake, Russel's sea snake
H. ocellatus0spotted sea snake
H. ornatus4ornate reef sea snake
H. pacificusBoulenger, 18960large-headed sea snake
H. parvicepsM.A. Smith, 19350Smith's small-headed sea snake
H. peronii0Peron's sea snake
H. platurusLinnaeus, 17660yellow-bellied sea snake
H. schistosusDaudin, 18030beaked sea snakeIndian Ocean and Persian Gulf to Pacific Ocean
H. semperiGarman, 18810Lake Taal snake, Garman's sea snake, Philippine freshwater sea snake, Luzon sea snake
H. sibauensisA. Rasmussen, Auliya
& W. Böhme, 2001		0Kalimantan sea snake
H. spiralis0yellow sea snake
H. stokesii0Stokes' sea snake, Stokes's sea snake
H. stricticollisGünther, 18640collared sea snake
H. torquatusGünther, 18642west coast black-headed sea snake
H. viperinusP. Schmidt, 18520viperine sea snakePersian Gulf and Western Indian Ocean to Western Pacific Ocean
H. vorisiKharin, 19840estuarine sea snakeTorres Strait, Queensland
H. zweifeli0Sepik beaked sea snake, Zweifel’s beaked sea snake

*) Not including the nominate subspecies.
Nota bene: A binomial authority in parentheses indicates that the species was originally described in a genus other than Hydrophis.