Hydrophiidae

(Jrt)

Hydrophiidae
The hydrophiidés (Hydrophiidae) form a family which brings together various species known as sea snakes, who attend the warm waters of the Indo-Pacific. Locally, these animals may be abundant, but they remain mostly unknown.
Indeed, these species lifestyle very specific are hardly bred in captivity, and their venom very powerful (surpassing that of cobra) deters almost all observers in their natural habitat.

Description
Species that make up this family are actually more or less adapted to aquatic life.
Their bodies and their tails are flattened, so you can swim with ease, the way eels.

The kind Laticauda, which includes the sea serpent ringed Laticauda colubrina is partially earthly regularly parked ashore on the beaches where females come to lay (but mating takes place in water). The kind Pelamis, which includes the marine snake or black and yellow pélamide (Pelamis platurus) is much more adapted to marine life, with a mode of reproduction ovoviviparous, the female making the world smaller in its Wednesday If ovoviviparity n ' is not rare among snakes, it is unique among marine reptiles (one can note that it is unknown at sea turtles, for example). The adaptation to the marine environment is very thorough in this genre.

All species have a very powerful venom, but there are little aggressive, at least in certain situations (such as species of the genus Laticauda when they are ashore).

List of genres

According ADW:

* Hydrophiidae
o kind Acalyptophis
o kind Aipysurus
o kind Astrotia
o kind Disteira
o kind Emydocephalus
o kind Enhydrina
o Ephalophis genre (not recognized by NCBI)
o kind Hydrelaps
o kind Hydrophis
o Kerilia genre (not recognized by NCBI)
o Kolpophis genre (not recognized by NCBI)
o kind Lapemis
o kind Laticauda (NCBI placed under Elapidae-> Laticaudinae)
o kind Parahydrophis
o kind Pelamis
o Thalassophina genre (not recognized by NCBI)
o Thalassophis genre (not recognized by NCBI)


According NCBI:

* Hydrophiidae
o kind Acalyptophis
o kind Aipysurus
o kind Astrotia
o kind Disteira
o kind Emydocephalus
o kind Enhydrina
o kind Hemiaspis (ADW placed under Elapidae)
o kind Hydrelaps
o kind Hydrophis
o kind Lapemis
o Microcephalophis genre (not recognized by ADW)
o Neelaps genre (not recognized by ADW and www.tigr.org / reptiles)
o kind Parahydrophis
o kind Pelamis
o kind Rhinoplocephalus (ADW placed under Elapidae)
o kind Vermicella (ADW placed under Elapidae)

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