Hydrophis inornatus

Apostolepis Superregnum: Eukaryota
Regnum: Animalia
Subregnum: Eumetazoa
Cladus: Bilateria
Cladus: Nephrozoa
Superphylum: Deuterostomia
Phylum: Chordata
Cladus: Craniata
Subphylum: Vertebrata
Infraphylum: Gnathostomata
Superclassis: Tetrapoda
Cladus: Reptiliomorpha
Cladus: Amniota
Classis: Reptilia
Cladus: Eureptilia
Cladus: Romeriida
Subclassis: Diapsida
Cladus: Sauria
Infraclassis: Lepidosauromorpha
Superordo: Lepidosauria
Ordo: Squamata
Subordo: Serpentes
Infraordo: Caenophidia
Superfamilia: Elapoidea

Familia: Elapidae
Subfamilia: Hydrophiinae
Genus: Hydrophis
Species: Hydrophis inornatus
Name

Hydrophis inornatus (Gray, 1849)

Holotype: BMNH 1946.1.1.27 (formerly BMNH III.7.1.a), adult ♀, presented by E. Belcher between 1843–1846.

Type locality: “Indian Ocean” (in error).
Combinations

Chitulia inornata Gray, 1849: 56 [original combination]
Hydrophis inornatus — Günther, 1864: 376 [subsequent combination]
Distira inornata — Boulenger, 1890: 411 [subsequent combination]

References
Primary references

Gray, J.E. 1849. Catalogue of the specimens of snakes in the collection of the British Museum. Edward Newman: London. i–xv + 1–125. BHL Reference page.

Links

Uetz, P. & Hallermann, J. 2022. Hydrophis inornatus. The Reptile Database. Accessed on 5 May 2019.
Rasmussen, A. 2010. IUCN: Hydrophis inornatus (Data Deficient). The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species 2010: e.T176732A7292599. DOI: 10.2305/IUCN.UK.2010-4.RLTS.T176732A7292599.en

Vernacular names
English: Plain Sea Snake

Hydrophis inornatus, commonly known as the plain sea snake, is a species of venomous sea snake in the family Elapidae.[2]

Distribution

South China Sea (Philippines: Panay, etc.), Sri Lanka, Australia (North Territory, Western Australia?).
Description

Hydrophis inornatus is bluish gray dorsally. The lips, lower sides, and venter are white. The tail is dark bluish gray, with three or four narrow white crossbands.

Head elongate, snout somewhat flattened. Eye large, located above the fourth upper labial. Pupil round. Neck moderately thick.

Dorsal scales hexagonal, with a central keel.[3]

Ventrals distinct, but only slightly larger than the contiguous scales. The type specimen, a male, has 240 ventrals.[4]
References

The Reptile Database. www.reptile-database.org.
"Hydrophis". Integrated Taxonomic Information System. Retrieved 7 September 2007.
Gray, J.E. 1849. Catalogue of the Specimens of Snakes in the Collection of the British Museum. Trustees of the British Museum. London. xv + 125 pp. (Chitulia inornata, p. 56.)

Boulenger, G.A. 1896. Catalogue of the Snakes in the British Museum (Natural History). Volume III., Containing the Colubridæ (Opisthoglyphæ and Proteroglyphæ),... Trustees of the British Museum (Natural History). London. p. 290.

Further reading

McDowell, S.B. 1972. The genera of sea-snakes of the Hydrophis group (Serpentes: Elapidae). Trans. Zool. Soc. Lond 32: 189–247.
Rasmussen, A.R. 1989. An analysis of Hydrophis ornatus (Gray), H. lamberti Smith, and H. inornatus (Gray) (Hydrophiidae, Serpentes) based on samples from various localities, with remarks on feeding and breeding biology of H. ornatus. Amphibia-Reptilia 10: 397–417.
Rasmussen, A.R. 1994. A cladistic analysis of Hydrophis subgenus Chitulia (McDowell, 1972) (Serpentes, Hydrophiidae). Zoological Journal 111 (2): 161.