Hydrophis klossi

Hydrophis klossi, also commonly known as Kloss's sea snake or Kloss' sea snake,^[1][2][3] is a species of sea snake in the family Elapidae.^[4] Like all other sea snakes, it is venomous. The species is endemic to the Indian Ocean.

Hydrophis klossi
Hydrophis klossi, preserved specimen in a Russian museum
Conservation status
Data Deficient  (IUCN 3.1)[1]
Scientific classification
Domain:	Eukaryota
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Chordata
Class:	Reptilia
Order:	Squamata
Suborder:	Serpentes
Family:	Elapidae
Genus:	Hydrophis
Species:	H. klossi
Binomial name
Hydrophis klossi Boulenger, 1912
Synonyms[2]
Hydrophis klossi Boulenger, 1912 Hydrophis (Mediohydrophis) klossi — Kharin, 2004 Mediohydrophis klossi — Wallach et al., 2014

Geographic range

H. klossi is found in the Indian Ocean in Cambodia, Indonesia (Sumatra), Peninsular Malaysia, Thailand (including Phuket), and Vietnam.^[2]

Description

The body of H. klossi is olive dorsally and yellowish ventrally, with black rings, which are wider than the interspaces on the dorsum, but narrower on the venter. The head is black with yellowish spots.

The type specimen is 90 cm (35 inches) in total length, which includes a tail 7.5 cm (3 inches) long.

The dorsal scales are imbricate (overlapping), smooth on the anterior part of the body, keeled on the posterior part, and arranged in 33 rows around the thickest part of the body (in 25 rows around the neck). The ventrals number 360.

The head is small, and the body is very slender anteriorly. The diameter of the eye is slightly less than its distance from the mouth. The rostral is slightly broader than deep. The frontal is very small, as long as broad, less than half as large as the supraocular. There is one anterior temporal. There are five upper labials, the fourth (or third and fourth) entering the eye. There are two pairs of chin shields, which are in contact with each other. The ventrals are only slightly larger than the contiguous scales.^[5]

Etymology

H. klossi is named after Cecil Boden Kloss (1877–1949), director of the Raffles Museum in Singapore from 1923 to 1932.^[3]

References

1. Sanders, K.; Rasmussen, A. (2010). "Hydrophis klossi ". IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. 2010: e.T176753A7297716. doi:10.2305/IUCN.UK.2010-4.RLTS.T176753A7297716.en. Retrieved 19 August 2023.
2. Species Hydrophis klossi at The Reptile Database www.reptile-database.org.
3. Beolens, Bo; Watkins, Michael; Grayson, Michael (2011). The Eponym Dictionary of Reptiles. Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press. xiii + 296 pp. ISBN 978-1-4214-0135-5. (Hydrophis klossi, p. 143).
4. "Hydrophis ". Integrated Taxonomic Information System. Retrieved 7 September 2007.
5. Boulenger GA (1912).

Further reading

• Boulenger GA (1912). A Vertebrate Fauna of the Malay Peninsula from the Isthmus of Kra to Singapore including the Adjacent Islands. Reptilia and Batrachia. London: Government of the Federated Malay States. (Taylor and Francis, printers). xiii + 298 pp. (Hydrophis klossi, new species, p. 190).
• Chan-ard T, Parr JWK, Nabhitabhata J (2015). A Field Guide to the Reptiles of Thailand. New York: Oxford University Press. 352 pp. ISBN 978-0-19-973649-2 (hardcover), ISBN 978-0-19-973650-8 (paperback).
• Kharin VE (2004). ["A review of sea snakes of the genus Hydrophis sensu stricto (Serpentes, Hydrophiidae)"]. [Biologiya Morya] (Vladivostok) 30 (6): 447–454. (in Russian).
• Smith MA (1943). The Fauna of British India, Ceylon and Burma, Including the Whole of the Indo-Chinese Sub-region. Reptilia and Amphibia. Vol. III.—Serpentes. London: Secretary of State for India. (Taylor and Francis, printers). xii + 583 pp. (Hydrophis klossi, pp. 457–458).