An abnormal, or unnamed, sea-snake. N. Smedley and C.B. Kloss. Records of the Raffles Museum, No. 18
This brief note by N. Smedley and C. B. Kloss discusses abnormal sea-snake specimens that do not conform to the expected morphology of known Laticauda species.
Summary
The authors address specimens that appear intermediate between L. colubrina and L. laticaudata, rejecting the suggestion that they represent hybrids between the two species on the grounds that colubrina is common in local waters while laticaudata is rare and has not been recorded from the Malay Peninsula (p. 164). They favour Stejneger’s interpretation of the specimens as aberrations of L. colubrina, while acknowledging the less likely possibility of an unnamed species. One specimen is juvenile; the others measure 4 ft 8½ in and 4 ft 2½ in, approaching the maximum length Wall records for colubrina (5 ft) but exceeding that of laticaudata (3 ft 7 in) (p. 164). The authors also critique Barbour’s treatment of the two taxa as subspecies of laticaudata, arguing that co-occurring forms cannot be geographical subspecies (p. 164).