Hydrophis cyanocinctus

Superregnum: Eukaryota
Regnum: Animalia
Subregnum: Eumetazoa
Cladus: Bilateria
Cladus: Nephrozoa
Superphylum: Deuterostomia
Phylum: Chordata
Cladus: Craniata
Subphylum: Vertebrata
Infraphylum: Gnathostomata
Superclassis: Tetrapoda
Cladus: Reptiliomorpha
Cladus: Amniota
Classis: Reptilia
Cladus: Eureptilia
Cladus: Romeriida
Subclassis: Diapsida
Cladus: Sauria
Infraclassis: Lepidosauromorpha
Superordo: Lepidosauria
Ordo: Squamata
Subordo: Serpentes
Infraordo: Caenophidia
Superfamilia: Elapoidea

Familia: Elapidae
Subfamilia: Hydrophiinae
Genus: Hydrophis
Species: Hydrophis cyanocinctus
Name

Type locality: Coromandel

Links

Uetz, P. & Hallermann, J. 2022. Hydrophis cyanocinctus. The Reptile Database. Accessed on 19 December 2021.
Rasmussen, A., Sanders, K. & Lobo, A. 2010. IUCN: Hydrophis cyanocinctus (Least Concern). The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species 2010: DOI: 10.2305/IUCN.UK.2010-4.RLTS.T176726A7291386.en. Accessed on 19 December 2021.

Vernacular names
English: Annulated Sea Snake
Bahasa Indonesia: Ular laut biru
日本語: マダラウミヘビ
中文: 青环海蛇

Hydrophis cyanocinctus, commonly called the annulated sea snake or the blue-banded sea snake, is a species of venomous sea snake in the family Elapidae.[2]

Description

Head moderate. Diameter of eye less than its distance from the mouth in the adult. Rostral slightly more broad than deep. Nasals shorter than the frontal, more than twice as long as the suture between the prefrontals. Prefrontals usually in contact with the second upper labial. Frontal more long than broad, as long as its distance from the rostral or the tip of the snout. One preocular and two postoculars. Two superposed anterior temporals. Seven or eight upper labials; third, fourth, and usually fifth entering the eye. Both pairs of chin-shields in contact, or posterior pair separated by one scale.

Body long. Dorsal scales subimbricate, keeled or with two or three tubercles, in 39-45 rows (27-33 anteriorly). Ventrals 281–385, smooth or with two or more tubercles.

Greenish-olive above, with blackish or olive transverse bars or annuli, broadest on the back, sometimes connected by a black band along the belly; or yellowish, with a black vertebral band and a few black bars on the neck.

Length of head and body 1360 mm; tail 140 mm.[3]

In a 2019 study it has been found it uses a complex system of blood vessels in its head called, the Modified Cephalic Vascular Network (MCVN) which is an adaptation that helps provide the brain with extra oxygen when submerged.[4]
Distribution

Found in the Indian Ocean (From the Persian Gulf, Iran, Pakistan, India, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh, Myanmar, Thailand, Malaysia, Philippines: Visayan Sea, Panay, etc.) and the marine waters around Korea, Japan, Solomon Islands, South China Sea (including Hainan), East China Sea (including Taiwan), coastal regions of Shandong and Liaoning (China) coasts of Persian Gulf (Oman, United Arab Emirates), east through South Asia until New Guinea. It is also reported from Brunei[5]
H. cyanocinctus
Behavior

Hydrophis cyanocinctus inhabits shallow coastal waters. It is often accidentally caught by prawn trawlers.[6]
Diet

It feeds on marine invertebrates and also on various groups of fish such as eels and gobies.[7]
Reproduction

This species is ovoviviparous. The young are born alive in broods of 3–16. The newborns are about 38 centimetres (15 in) long.[7]
References

The Reptile Database. www.reptile-database.org.
"Hydrophis". Integrated Taxonomic Information System. Retrieved 7 September 2007.
Rooij, Nelly de. 1915. The reptiles of the Indo-Australian archipelago. Leiden.
Palci, Alessandro; Seymour, Roger S.; Van Nguyen, Cao; Hutchinson, Mark N.; Lee, Michael S. Y.; Sanders, Kate L. (2019). "Novel vascular plexus in the head of a sea snake (Elapidae, Hydrophiinae) revealed by high-resolution computed tomography and histology". Royal Society Open Science. 6 (9): 191099. doi:10.1098/rsos.191099. PMC 6774945. PMID 31598325.
"WCH Clinical Toxinology Resources".
Das, Indraneil. 2006. A Photographic Guide to Snakes and Other Reptiles of Borneo. Ralph Curtis Publishing. Sanibel Island. Florida. p. 67.

Das, 2006.