Spine-bellied sea snake

Description

The spine-bellied sea snake (Hydrophis hardwickii), also commonly known as Hardwicke's sea snake and Hardwicke's spine-bellied sea snake, is a species of venomous sea snake in the family Elapidae. The specific name, hardwickii, is in honor of English naturalist Thomas Hardwicke. H. hardwickii has the following characteristics. Body short, stout, neck region not less than half as thick at midbody; head large; scales squarish or hexagonal, juxtaposed, outer 3-4 rows larger than others, scale rows: males 23-31 around neck, females 27-35, around midbody, males 25-27, females 33-41; ventrals small, usually distinct anteriorly, not so posteriorly, in males 114-186, in females 141-230; head shields entire, parietals occasionally divided; nostrils superior, nasals in contact with one another; prefrontal usually in contact with second upper labial; 7-8 upper labials, 3-4 bordering eye; 1 pre- and 1-2 postoculars; 2, rarely 3, anterior temporals; greenish or yellow- olive above, whitish below, 35-50 olive to dark gray dorsal bars, tapering to a point laterally, occasionally encircling body, a narrow dark ventral stripe or broad irregular band occasionally present; adults often lack any pattern and are uniform olive to dark gray; head pale olive to black, yellow markings on snout present or not. Total length 860 mm (2' 4"), tail length 85 mm (3.3").