Hydrophis [Chitulia] ornatus (Gray, 1842)

Ornate Sea Snake; Reef Sea Snake; Spotted Sea Snake

Aturia ornata Gray, 1842 b:61 .

Hydrophis ornatus, Smith, 1926:81, fig. 24.— David and Ineich, 1999:116.— Whitaker and Captain, 2004:394, photo (p. 395).— Leviton, Brown, and Siler, 2014:508, figs. 24B, 40–41.

Hydrophis ornatus ornatus, Smith, 1943:460 .— McCarthy, 1993c:239.

Chitulia oprnata, Wallach, Williams, and Boundy, 2014:164 .

TYPE LOCALITY AND TYPE SPECIMEN (S).— Indian Ocean . Holotype: BMNH 1946.1.23.72 (formerly BMNH III.3.1.a; fide Smith [1926:83]).

PHILIPPINE DISTRIBUTION (Map 18B [p. 129]).— Gigantes Sur, Luzon (Prov.: Cavite [Manila Bay], Rizal [Manila Bay]), Panay.

GENERAL DISTRIBUTION (OTHER THAN PHILIPPINES).— Persian [Arabian] Gulf to New Guinea and Australia and north along the coast of China to the Ryukyu Ids. (See also comments by Zug [2013:230] relating to reports of occurrence in the Gilbert Islands.)

REMARKS.— We have tentatively assigned this species to Hydrophis consistent with the treatments of Hydrophis and related nominal genera by Sanders et al. (2013) and Pyron et al. (2013).

CONSERVATION STATUS [IUCN].— Least Concern [2016] ver. 3.1.