Species Hydrophis pacificus Boulenger, 1896

Museums

Regional Maps

• Hydrophis pacificus Boulenger, G.A. 1896. Catalogue of Snakes in the British Museum (Natural History). 3. London : British Museum xiv 727 pp. 25 pls. [278].

  Type data:

   Holotype BMNH 1946.1.10.14, New Britain, Papua New Guinea.
• Distira macfarlani Boulenger, G.A. 1896. Catalogue of Snakes in the British Museum (Natural History). 3. London : British Museum xiv 727 pp. 25 pls. [294, pl. 17 fig. 1].

  Type data:

   Syntype(s) BMNH 1946.1.3.92–93, Murray Ils, Torres Strait, QLD.

 

Taxonomic Decision for Synonymy

• Smith, M.A. 1926. Monograph on the Sea Snakes. (Hydrophiidae). London : British Museum xvii 130 pp.
• Cogger, H.G., in Cogger, H.G., Cameron, E.E. & Cogger, H.M. 1983. Amphibia and Reptilia. 313 pp. in Walton, D.W. (ed.). Zoological Catalogue of Australia. Canberra : Australian Government Publishing Service Vol. 1 vi + 313 pp. [253]

 

Generic Combinations

• Leioselasma pacifica (Boulenger, 1896). —
  Kharin, V.E. 2005. Distribution of a little-known sea snake Chitulia belcheri (Gray, 1849) and new records of rare species of the genus Leioselasma Lacepede, 1804 (Serpentes: Hydrophiidae). Russian Journal of Marine Biology 31(3): 159-163

 

Distribution

States

Northern Territory, Queensland

Extra Distribution Information

Arafura Sea, Coral Sea; also New Guinea

IBRA and IMCRA regions

IMCRA

Northern Shelf Province (25), Northeast Shelf Transition (41)

Other Regions

Torres Strait Islands terrestrial, marine & freshwater

Ecological Descriptors

Aquatic, continental shelf, inshore, nektonic, piscivore.

Extra Ecological Information

Perennially active, viviparous.

 

General References

Cogger, H.G. 1975. The sea snakes of Australia and New Guinea. pp. 59-139 in Dunson, W. (ed.). The Biology of Sea Snakes. Baltimore : University Park Press. (taxonomy)

McDowell, S.B. 1972. The genera of sea-snakes of the Hydrophis group (Serpentes: Elapidae). Transactions of the Zoological Society of London 32: 189-247 (taxonomy)

Smith, M.A. 1926. Monograph on the Sea Snakes. (Hydrophiidae). London : British Museum xvii 130 pp. (taxonomy)

 

Common Name References

Clayton, M., Wombey, J.C., Mason, I.J., Chesser, R.T. & Wells, A. 2006. CSIRO List of Australian Vertebrates: A Reference with Conservation Status. Melbourne : CSIRO Publishing iv 162 pp. [47] (Large-headed Sea Snake)

 

History of changes

Published	As part of group	Action Date	Action Type	Compiler(s)
04-Feb-2023	ELAPIDAE Boie, 1827	30-Oct-2023	MODIFIED
07-Feb-2024	ELAPIDAE	02-Oct-2014	MODIFIED
07-Feb-2024		05-Jun-2012	MOVED
08-Mar-2011		08-Mar-2011	MODIFIED
		12-Feb-2010	(import)