Hydrophis lapemoides ( Gray, 1849 )

Figueroa, Alex, Low, Martyn E. Y. & Lim, Kelvin K. P., 2023, Singapore’s herpetofauna: updated and annotated checklist, history, conservation, and distribution, Zootaxa 5287 (1), pp. 1-378 : 288-289

Hydrophis lapemoides ( Gray, 1849) — Erroneous.

Persian Gulf Sea Snake

Singapore records.

Hydrophis lapemoides —Rasmussen, 1993: 97, 101, 102.— Iskandar & Colijn, 2001: 135.—R. Somaweera & N. Somaweera, 2009: 48.— Das, 2010: 321.— Buzaìs et al., 2018: 14.

Chitulia lapemoides —Wallach et al., 2014: 166.—Chan-ard et al., 2015: 277.

Remarks. Rasmussen (1987) reported on a specimen of H. lapemoides (ZMUC-R661010) that was caught in the Straits of Malacca during the Galathea expedition of 1952, and provided coordinates placing the specimen off the coast of Batu Pahat, Johor Bahru, Peninsular Malaysia. However, later he stated the locality as being Singapore (Rasmussen 1993), but also mentioned that it was collected in the same location as a specimen of H. lamberti (FMNH 31058), which was brought to the Kangkar Fish Market which operated out of Serangoon (see H. lamberti account; also refer to “A note on sea snakes in Singapore ” above). Thus, it appears the specimen was collected in Peninsular Malaysia and not Singapore. Although, H. lapemoides occurs in the waters from the Arabian Peninsula to Peninsular Malaysia (Wallach et al. 2014), no records yet exist for Singapore.

LKCNHM & NHMUK Museum specimens. No specimens.

Additional Singapore museum specimens. No specimens.

3c) Speculated Species (8 species)

Eight reptiles consisting of one turtle and seven snakes were speculated to occur in Singapore ( Table 3). The seven snakes are all species of Hydrophis that Sworder (1923) suspected may inhabit Singapore’s waters given they’ve been recorded in nearby countries. Subsequent publications place these species as occupying Singapore despite no records. Thus, we omit them from Singapore’s checklist.

Class Reptilia Laurenti, 1768 (8 species)

Order Testudines Batsch, 1788 (1 species)

Family Geoemydidae Theobald, 1868 (1 species)

Genus Cyclemys Bell, 1834 (1 species)

Cyclemys enigmatica Fritz, Guicking, Auer, Sommer, Wink & Hundsd ̂rfer, 2008— Erroneous

Enigmatic Leaf Turtle

Singapore records.

Cyclemys enigmatica —TTWG, 2021: 222.

Remarks. Given its distribution of southern Thailand, Peninsular Malaysia, Sumatra, Java, and Borneo (Fritz et al. 2008), C. enigmatica is suspected to be native to Singapore ( TTWG 2021). However, no records of this species are reported from Singapore. Thus, we exclude C. enigmatica from Singapore’s native herpetofauna list.

LKCNHM & NHMUK Museum specimens. No specimens.

Additional Singapore museum specimens. No specimens.

Order Squamata Oppel, 1811 (7 species)

Suborder Serpentes Linnaeus, 1758 (7 species)

Family Elapidae H. Boie in F. Boie, 1827 (7 species)

Genus Hydrophis Latreille in Sonnini & Latreille, 1801 (6 species)