LEVITON, BROWN, & SILER: PHILIPPINE VENOMOUS SNAKES 
509 
Figure 40. Hydrophis ornatus (Gray, 1842). Photo courtesy of 
Aaron Lobo 
JM 
..•■.•I.-..-. 
Figure 41. Hydrophis ornatus (Gray, 
1842). Illustrations by Emily M. Eng 
Hydrophis [Acalyptophis] peronii (A.H.A. Dumeril, 1853) 
Spiny-headed Sea Snake or Homed Sea Snake 
Figures 20C, 42 
Acalyptusperonii A.H.A. Dumeril, 1853:522. 
Acalyptophis peronii, Boulenger, 1896:269.— Smith, 1926:102.— MeCarthy, 1993:221.— David and Ineieh, 
1999:55. 
Description. — Head short, small, diameter of neek one- 
third to two-thirds that of the greatest diameter of body; rostril dis- 
tinetly broader than deep; supraoeular with raised, pointed poste¬ 
rior border; 19-23 scale rows on neck, 23-29 around body, with 
short keels, stronger and spinose in males; ventrals 142-206, as 
broad as or slightly narrower than adjacent body scales; greyish or 
pale brown above, whitish below, with or without dark dorsal bars 
tapering to points on sides; narrow ventral bands or spots may be 
present. 
Size.— Total length 1230 mm; tail length 160 mm. 
Distribution. — Philippines (unknown, but it has been 
reported from coastal Malaysia and Vietnam in the South China 
Sea). Elsewhere: Gulf of Siam, including coastal Thailand, Viet¬ 
nam, Malaysia, Indonesia, South China Sea north to Taiwan, and 
east to New Guinea, New Caledonia, and Australia. 
Figure 42. Hydrophis [Acalyp¬ 
tophis] peronii (A.H.A. Dumeril, 
1853). Illustrations by Emily M. Eng. 
Hydrophis [Pelamis] platurus (Linnaeus, 1758) 
Pelagic Sea Snake; Yellow-bellied Sea Snake 
Figures 27A, 27C, 30, 43^4 
Anguis platura Linnaeus, 1766:391. 
Pelamis platurus. Smith, 1926:116, fig. 33; 1943:476.— McCarthy, 1993:245.— David and Ineieh, 
1999:174.— Whitaker and Captain, 2004:402, photo (p. 403). 
Pelamis platura, Rasumssen et al., 2011:9. 
Description. — Body compressed, posteriorly more than twice the diameter of the neck; body 
scales juxtaposed, subquadrangular in shape, in 49-67 rows around thickest part of body; ventral 
scales, 264^06, very small and, if distinct, divided by a longitudinal groove, but usually indistin- 
