THE STATUS OF HYDRO PHIS LAPEMOIDES 



Table 3 Geographic variation of internal characters in H. lapemoides . 



103 





Sex 



/; 



VB-body 



VB-heart 



%VB-heart 



VB-tail 



Andaman 



M 



28 



164-174 



73-83 



43.5-48.0 



31-38 



Sea and 





x±SD 



170±2.7 



79±2.3 



46.7±1.1 



34±2.0 



Malacca 



F 



23 



171-180 



79-86 



45.1-49.1 



28-38 



Str. 





*±SD 



174±2.5 



82±1.8 



47.0±1.1 



31±2.5 



India 



M 



2 



165-174 



79-82 



45.4-49.7 



37(/?=l) 



and Sri 





,r±SD 



169±6.4 



80±2.1 



47.5±3.0 





Lanka 



F 



5 



171-182 



81-94 



45.8-51.7 



30-35 







,r±SD 



176±4.9 



85±5.1 



48.5±2.3 



33±1.9 



Persian 



M 



45 



171-188 



79-90 



45.6-51.1 



33-40 



Gulf and 





±SD 



177±3.3 



85±2.3 



47.9±1.3 



37±1.7 



Gulf of 



F 



26 



172-186 



81-90 



46.6-49.2 



30-36 



Oman 





,v±SD 



181+3.6 



86±2.4 



48.0±0.8 



34±1.7 



VB-body = number of body vertebrae. VB-heart = position of the tip of (he heart in relation to the number of vertebrae. % VB-heart = relative position of tip of 

 the heart in number of vertebrae, expressed as percentage of total number of vertebrae. VB-tail = number of tail vertebrae 



1985; Rasmussen, 1987, 1989, 1992; Smith, 1926, 1930, 1943; 

 Taylor, 1965; Toriba & Sawai, 1981; Tweedie, 1983). 



The sympatric species differ from H. lapemoides in the 

 following characters: H. cyanocinctus and H. spiralis have the 

 sphenoid nearly excluded from the ventral margin of the optic 

 fenestra (McDowell, 1972; Rasmussen, 1992: Fig. 5), a lesser 

 number (< 9) of maxillary teeth, (< 20) pterygoid teeth, and 

 (< 20) dentary teeth, and a different colour pattern (Bussa- 

 rawit et al., 1989; McDowell, 1972; Rasmussen, in press; 

 Smith, 1926). H. brookii, H. cantoris, H. fasciatus, H. 

 gracilis, H. klossi, H. melanosoma, and H. obscurus have a 

 triangular flange on the palatine (McDowell, 1972; Rasmus- 

 sen, 1992: Fig. 4), and a lesser number (< 8) of maxillary 

 teeth, (< 17) pterygoid teeth, and (< 16) dentary teeth 

 (McDowell, 1972). H. bituberculatus has a lesser number 

 (25-29) of scale rows around neck, a lesser number (247-290) 

 of ventrals, a lower position (90-105 VS) of heart tip, and a 

 different colour pattern (Rasmussen, 1992). H. caerulescens 

 has a higher number (14-18) of maxillary teeth (Smith, 1926), 

 a higher position (96-99 VB, based on 3 specimens from 

 Phuket harbour) of heart tip, and a different colour pattern 

 (Bussarawit et al., 1989; Smith, 1926; Tweddie, 1983). H. 

 inornatus (type specimen BMNH 1946,1.1.27 formerly 

 III. 7.1. a.) has a lesser number (253) of ventrals, a lower 

 position (86 VS) of heart tip, a lower position (67 VB) of 

 heart tip, and a different colour pattern (Rasmussen, 1989). 

 H. lamberti is compared with H. lapemoides in the section 

 concerning species assignment. H. mamillaris has a smaller 

 head, a lesser number (25-29, 35-43) of scale rows on neck 

 and body, and a different colour pattern (Minton, 1966; 

 Smith, 1943). H. ornatus has a lesser number (224-294) of 

 ventrals, a lower position (72-104 VS) of heart tip, a lower 

 position (59-65 VB) of heart tip, and a different colour 

 pattern (Rasmussen, 1989). H. stricticollis has a smaller head, 

 a higher number (> 200 VB, Voris, 1975, and own observa- 

 tion) of vertebrae, and the hemipenis is bilobed half way 

 down. H. torquatus has a higher position (91-105 VB) of 

 heart tip, and a lesser number (7-8) of maxillary teeth (only in 

 Malacca strait) (own observation). 



Comparison with allopatric species 



In the genus Hydrophis the following species are allopatric 

 with H. lapemoides: H. belcheri, H. coggeri, H. czeblukovi. 



H. elegans, H. geometricus, H. macdowelli, H. melanoceph- 

 alus, H. pacificus, H. parviceps, and H. vorisi. (Bussarawit et 

 al., 1989; Cogger, 1975; Kharin, 1983, 1984a. 1984b; McCar- 

 thy & Warrell, 1991; Smith, 1986; Smith, 1926, 1930, 1935). 

 The allopatric species differ from H. lapemoides in the 

 following characters: H. coggeri, H. czeblukovi, H. elegans, 

 H. melanocephalus, and H. pacificus have the sphenoid 

 nearly excluded from the ventral margin of the optic fenestra 

 (Kharin, 1984b; McDowell, 1972; Rasmussen, 1992: Fig. 5) 

 and a lesser number (< 9) of maxillary teeth, (< 20) 

 pterygoid teeth, and (< 20) dentary teeth (Kharin, 1984b; 

 McDowell, 1972). H. parviceps and H. vorisi have a triangu- 

 lar flange on the palatine (Kharin, 1984a; McDowell, 1972; 

 Rasmussen, 1992: Fig. 4), and a lesser number (< 8) of 

 maxillary teeth, (< 17) pterygoid teeth, and (< 17) dentary 

 teeth (Kharin, 1984a; McDowell, 1972; Smith, 1935). H. 

 belcheri has a lesser number (24-26, 32-36) of scale rows on 

 neck and body, a lesser number (14-17) of pterygoid teeth, 

 and no cuneate scales at infralabials (McCarthy & Warrell, 

 1991). H. geometricus has a high number (51-58, a small 

 overlap) of scale rows on body, and a different colour pattern 

 (Smith, 1986:152 Fig. 1). H. macdowelli has a lesser number 

 (< 8) of maxillary teeth, (< 16) pterygoid teeth, and (< 17) 

 dentary teeth, and a lesser number (256-266) of ventrals 

 (Kharin, 1983). 



Acknowledgements. I thank the staff of The Phuket Marine Bio- 

 logical Center, Thailand, CODEC Project, Chittagong, Bangladesh, 

 Ministry of Commerce and Agriculture, Directorate of Fisheries, 

 Bahrain, S. Bagge, Cowi-Almoayed Gulf, Bahrain, J. Jensen, 

 Danida, and M. Andersen who helped me during the collection. The 

 Natural History Museum, London, Field Museum of Natural His- 

 tory, Chicago, Rijksmuseum van Natuurlijke Historie, Leiden, 

 National Museum of Natural History, Smithsonian, Washington for 

 loan of specimens. M. Andersen, A.B Helwigh, and especially Dr. 

 C. McCarthy (BMNH) and Dr. J. B. Rasmussen (ZMUC) for 

 valuable advice and constructive criticism of the manuscript. The 

 study was supported by Dansk Naturhistorisk Forening, The 

 Johannes Schmidts Grant, The Krista and Viggo Petersens Grant, 

 The Danish Research Academy, and The Danish National Research 

 Council, Grant no. 11-8209. 



