Hydrophis [Kerilia] jerdoni Gray, 1849, 1801

Leviton, Alan E., Siler, Cameron D., Weinell, Jeffrey L. & Brown, Rafe M., 2018, Synopsis of the Snakes of the Philippines A Synthesis of Data from Biodiversity Repositories, Field Studies, and the Literature, Proceedings of the California Academy of Sciences (Oxford, England) 64 (14), pp. 399-568 : 463

Hydrophis [Kerilia] jerdoni Gray, 1849

Jerdon’s Sea Snake

Kerilia jerdoni Gray, 1849:57 .— Smith, 1926:31, fig. 15.— David and Ineich, 1999:120.— Stuebing and Inger, 1999:214.— Rasmussen et al., 2011:8.— Wallach, Williams, and Boundy, 2014:345.

Hydrophis [Kerilia] jerdoni, Leviton, Brown, and Siler, 2014:507 .

TYPE LOCALITY AND TYPE SPECIMEN (S).— Madras, India. Holotype: BMNH 1946.1.10.11 (formerly BMNH III.8.1.a ; fide Smith [1926:32]).

PHILIPPINE DISTRIBUTION.— Philippines (not recorded from the Philippines but reported from coastal waters of northern Borneo and elsewhere in the South China Sea north to Taiwan).

GENERAL DISTRIBUTION (OTHER THAN PHILIPPINES).— Widely distributed from coastal waters of southeast Indian Peninsula, Sri Lanka, Myanmar, Thailand, Mergui Archipelago, Malacca Straits, Singapore, and west and northwest coast of Borneo.

REMARKS.— Two subspecies of Kerilia jerdoni have been recognized, but not all authors agree on their status. Kerilia j. jerdoni is the form that would be encountered in the Bay of Bengal along the coasts of southeast India, Sri Lanka, and Myanmar, whereas K. j. siamensis ranges from the east coast of Peninsular Thailand to the Borneo coast (Rasmussen and Anderson [1990]).

We have 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).

Although not yet recorded from the Philippines, its occurrence in shallow coastal waters off the coast of northern Borneo suggests it will likely be found in coastal waters off of the Palawan Island group and perhaps in the Sulu Sea.

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