Northern mangrove seasnake
The northern mangrove seasnake '', also known commonly as the Arafura smooth seasnake and Merton's sea snake, is a species of venomous snake in the family Elapidae. The species is native to Australia and New Guinea.
Taxonomy
The species was first described in 1910 as Distira mertoni by Jean Roux. It was transferred to the genus, Parahydrophis, in 1974 by Burger and Natsuno.Etymology
The specific name, mertoni, is in honor of German zoologist Hugo Merton.Geographic range
Parahydrophis mertoni is found in Northern Australia in Northern Territory and Queensland. It is also found in New Guinea in the Arafura Sea. It is found in the inter-tidal zone.Description
Parahydrophis mertoni is blackish-olive with about 46 yellow rings on the body and ten on the tail. The head shields are spotted with yellow, except for the rostral and labials which are black.The holotype, which Roux called junge, has a total length of. According to Wilson and Swan 2023, adults usually have a total length of about.