504 
THE CORAL TRIANGLE: HEARST BIODIVERSITY EXPEDITION 
Hydrophis brookii Gunther, 1872 
Brook’s Sea Snake 
Hydrophis brookii Gunther, 1872:597, fig. (Type locality; Sarawak [coast], Borneo, Malaysia).— Smith, 
1926: 99.— David and hieich, 1999:106.— Stuebing and Inger, 1999:207.— Rasmussen et al,, 2011:5. 
Description. — Head very small, body very slender anteriorly, compressed posteriory and 
two to three times diameter of neck; 4—5 maxillary teeth behind venom fangs; scales at midbody 
subimbricate, hexagonal in shape, often with a median tubercle or keel; 6, occasionally only 5, 
upper labials, 3rd and 4th border eye; scales in 23-31 rows around neck, 37-45 around midbody; 
ventrals 328^14, distinct throughout; color (live) bluish white (greyish in preserved specimens), 
with 60-80 dark grey (black) bands, anteriorly they encircle body and are about twice as broad as 
the interspaces, posteriorly they naiTow on the sides and may be incomplete below; head black or 
dark grey with curved yellow horseshoe-shaped marking across snout and extending back along 
sides of head. (Modified from Smith 1926:100-101 and Rasmussen et al. 2011:5.) 
Size. — Total length (cJ) 1040 mm, ($) 965 mm; tail length (cJ) 115 mm, (5) 75 mm. 
Distribution. — Philippines (imknown, but it has been reported from South China Sea, along 
the coast of Sarawak, Borneo [Smith 1926:101; Stuebing and Inger 1999:207] and Vietnam [David 
and Ineich 1999:106; Rasmussen 2011:5]). Elsewhere: Thailand, Indonesia, Malaysia, Singapore, 
Vietnam, Sarawak coast of Borneo. 
Hydrophis coggeri (Kharin, 1984) 
Cogger’s Sea Snake; Pacific Yellow-banded Seasnake 
Leioselasma coggeri Kliarin 1984a: 1538, fig. b.— David and Ineich 1999:107.— Rasmussen2001:4002, figs. 
Description. — Head and body variable, “small head and slender neck, others with more 
robust body” (Rasmussen, op, cit); 5-8 maxillai*y teeth behind venom fangs; scales in 22-39 rows 
around neck, 29-35 ai*ound midbody; ventrals, 278-325; head uniformly dark brown to black, body 
olive with encircling dark bands on body and tail. 
Size.— Total length 1150 mm. 
Distribution. — Philippines (said to occur in the Philippines [Rasmussen 2001:4002 and dis¬ 
tribution map; also Zug 2013:229] but most likely H. melanocephalus [see Rasmussen et al. 
2011:6]). Elsewhere: north coast of Australia, New Caledonia, east to Vanuatu and Fiji. 
Hydrophis [Lapemis] curtus Shaw, 1802 
Short or Hardwicke’s Sea Snake 
Figures 27D, 28-29, 37-38 
Lapemis curtus Shaw, 1802:562.— Zhao and Adler, 1993:269.— Gritis and Voris, 1990: 1-11.— Whitaker 
and Captain, 2004:398, photo (p. 399). McCarthy, 1993:244.— David and Ineich, 1999:121. 
Lapemis hardwickii Gray in Hardwicke and Gray, 1835, vol. 2, pi. 87.— Smith, 1926:108, fig. 32, pi. 1, fig. 
3; 1943:468, figs. 148-149. 
Lapemis curtus hardwickii, McCarthy, 1993:244. 
Description. — Body short, stout, diameter of neck region at least half that of the midbody; 
head lai'ge, scales on dorsum of head regular (Fig. 37), entire, parietals occasionally divided, nos¬ 
trils superior, nasals in contact with one another; prefrontal usually in contact with second upper 
labial, 7-8 upper labials, 3^ bordering eye, 1 pre- and 1-2 postoculars, 2, rarely 3, anterior tem¬ 
porals; body scales squarish or hexagonal, juxtaposed, outer 3^ rows larger than others, scale 
rows: around neck ((?) 23-31, (5) 27-35, around midbody, (cj) 25-27, ($) 33- 41; venti'als small, 
usually distinct anteriorly, not so posteriorly, (cJ) 114-186, ($) 141-230; greenish or yellow-olive 
above, whitish below, 35-50 olive to dark gray dorsal bars, tapering to a point laterally, occasion- 
