Abstract
Recent ocean warming near the Korean peninsula and our lack of knowledge of an important vertebrate group, the sea snakes, encouraged us to clarify this part of Korea’s regional fauna. We re-examined photographs that had been used to report the slender-necked sea snake (Hydrophis melanocephalus) in 1995. We discovered it was misidentified. To determine the correct identity of the sea snake, we studied 13 original photographs taken at the collecting site in Sooyoung Bay, Busan-si, in 1995 and determined the snake to be Laticauda semifasciata based on enlarged ventral scales, definitive for Laticaudinae sea snakes, and internasal scales, pale blue body color, divided rostral scale, and evident “V”-shaped stripes on the body trunk, definitive for L. semifasciata. Therefore, the snake caught 30 years ago in Korean waters should be considered the first record of a Laticaudinae sea snake in Korean waters. L. semifasciata is listed as near threatened setting the stage for urgently needed studies of sea snakes in Korea and supporting those currently underway.
Highlights
Sea snakes mainly inhabit Atlantic and Pacific tropical and subtropical seas and are a subfamily of venomous elapid snakes (Elapidae) that consists of Hydrophiinae and Laticaudinae
No one has undertaken a rigorous classification of any sea snake species caught in Korean waters
The snake in the photographs had a vertical paddle-like tail (Fig. 1a), enlarged ventral scales (Fig. 1b), internasal scales on the head, and lateral nostrils (Fig. 2b). These characteristics strongly indicate that the snake in the photographs is a sea snake in Laticaudinae and not in Hydrophiinae, as originally reported in Lee et al (2003)
Summary
Sea snakes mainly inhabit Atlantic and Pacific tropical and subtropical seas and are a subfamily of venomous elapid snakes (Elapidae) that consists of Hydrophiinae (true sea snakes) and Laticaudinae (sea kraits; Smith 1926, Dunson 1975, Heatwole 1987, Rasmussen 2001). In East Asia (i.e., Korea, China, Taiwan, and Japan), a total of 16 sea snake species are listed: 13 in Hydrophiinae and three in Laticaudinae (Won 1971, Kang and Yoon 1975, Mao and Chen 1980, Zhao and Adler 1993, Toriba 1994, Goris and Maeda 2004). * Correspondence: parkda@kangwon.ac.kr 5Division of Science Education, Kangwon National University, Chuncheon 200-701, South Korea Full list of author information is available at the end of the article to global oceanic warming.
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