Hydrophis ornatus ( Gray, 1842 )

Rasmussen, Arne Redsted, Sanders, Kate Laura, Guinea, Michael L. & Amey, Andrew P., 2014, Sea snakes in Australian waters (Serpentes: subfamilies Hydrophiinae and Laticaudinae) - a review with an updated identification key, Zootaxa 3869 (4), pp. 351-371 : 355

Hydrophis ornatus ( Gray, 1842) / Hydrophis ocellatus Gray, 1849 .

Smith (1926) regarded H. ocellatus to be a subspecies of H. ornatus and referred Australian specimens previously included in H. ornatus to it. Later, H. o. ocellatus was raised to species level because of its distinctive DNA, colour pattern and a higher number of midbody scale rows compared with H. o. ornatus in Asia |(Rasmussen, Murphy, et al., 2011; Sanders, Lee, et al., 2013; L. A. Smith, 1974). However, the name H. ornatus is still used by most authors in Australia ( Brewer et al., 2006; Cogger, 1975, 2007; Lukoschek & Keogh, 2006; Wells, 2007; Wilson & Swan, 2010). Hydrophis ocellatus is a widespread species found in most tropical and subtropical Australian waters ( Brewer et al., 2006; Cogger, 1975, 2007; Redfield et al., 1978; L. A. Smith, 1974; Ward, 2000; Wassenberg, Milton, & Burridge, 2001). We have found no specimens or been otherwise able to confirm H. ornatus occurs in Australian waters. All the records we have examined of this complex belong to H. ocellatus . It is interesting that specimens of H. ornatus but not H. ocellatus have been collected in New Caledonia waters ( Ineich & Rasmussen, 1997), indicating that the two species exclude each other in some regions. There is no evidence that H. ornatus does occur in Australian waters. We therefore include H ornatus neither in the checklist nor in the list of possible Australian sea snakes.