Laticauda laticaudata

Blue-lipped sea krait
Conservation status
Least Concern (IUCN 3.1)
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Chordata
Class:	Reptilia
Order:	Squamata
Suborder:	Serpentes
Family:	Elapidae
Subfamily:	Laticaudinae
Genus:	Laticauda
Species:	L. laticaudata
Binomial name
Laticauda laticaudata (Linnaeus, 1758)
Synonyms
Coluber laticaudatus Linnaeus, 1758 Laticauda scutata Laurenti, 1768 Platurus laticaudatus Girard, 1858

The blue-lipped sea krait (Laticauda laticaudata) is a species of venomous sea-snakes Elapidae (Laticaudinae-sea snake) found in the Indian and Pacific Oceans.

Taxonomy

The blue-lipped sea krait was one of the many species originally described by Linnaeus in the landmark 1758 10th edition of his Systema Naturae, where it was given the binomial name of Coluber laticaudatus.

Description

File:Laticauda laticaudata (Ko Samui).jpg

L. laticaudata hunting in the coral reefs offshore in Ko Samui, Thailand.

Ventral scales of this snake are large, one-third to more than one-half the width of the body; the nostrils are lateral; nasal scales are separated by internasals; 19 longitudinal rows of imbricate scales are found at midbody; no azygous prefrontal shield is present; rostral scales are undivided; ventrals number 225-243; subcaudals number 38–47 in males, females have 30–35 (ventral and subcaudal counts after Smith 1943:443). The upper lip is dark brown. Total length varies with sex: males are 910 mm (36 in), females are 1,070 mm (42 in); tail lengths are similar: 110 mm (4.3 in).

Distribution and habitat

This species is found in the Indian Ocean (Bangladesh, East India, Sri Lanka, Myanmar, Thailand, Indonesia, the Philippines), off the coasts of Fujian and Taiwan (R.O.C), Andaman Islands, Bay of Bengal, coasts of Malay Peninsula to New Guinea, Japan, Polynesia, Melanesia, Solomon Islands [McCoy 2006], Timor-Leste and New Caledonia.

Special features

This snake is known to warm up in wedge-tailed shearwater burrows.

References

• Kharin V E 1984 Revision of sea snakes of subfamily Laticaudinae Cope, 1879 sensu lato (Serpentes, Hydrophiidae). Trudy Zoologicheskogo Instituta 124: 128-139

External links

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