2024/01/24 by Mondal, Sonia, Ganesh, S.R., Raghunathan, C.
paper · doi:10.20363/bzb-2023.72.2.209
Sea snakes of the genera Hydrophis Latreille In Sonnini Latreille, 1801 and Microcephalophis Lesson, 1832 are also represented by some rare species in India and surrounding waters. Many species of Indian sea snakes are poorly known, except for some common species reported in marine faunal surveys. Here, based on a series of 107 specimens, we elaborate on nine such rare species of the genera Hydrophis, viz. H. jerdoni (Gray, 1849), H. lapemoides (Gray, 1849), H. mamillaris (Daudin, 1803), H. nigrocinctus Daudin, 1803, H. stricticollis Gunther, 1864, H. viperinus (Schmidt, 1852) and H. obscurus Daudin, 1803 as well as Microcephalophis, viz. M. gracilis (Shaw, 1802) and M. cantoris Gunther, 1864. We furnish data on the morphometrics and colouration in preservation for the above species based on material in the Zoological Survey of India, Kolkata (n = 74) and the Bombay Natural History Society Museum, Mumbai (n = 33). But for a few (n = 19) specimens from Iran, Pakistan, Myanmar and Thailand for four species (H. jerdoni, H. viperinus, H. obscurus, M. gracilis), the vast majority of the examined specimens are from Indian coastlines. All material dealt with here are non-types, but include some historical specimens previously examined by European herpetologists. All species of Hydrophis and Microcephalophis represented here are those native to India. We also illustrate these seven species as preserved vouchers, all belonging to Indian material to further aid their future identifications.