Lapemis curtus (Shaw, 1802)
Hardwicke's Sea Snake 平頦海蛇
(Highly Venomous)
Suborder
Serpentes 蛇亞目
Ground colour pale greyish or yellowish,
with broad pale olive or transverse bars, which taper to a point on the sides.
Bars sometimes fused together on the mid-line, forming a zig-zag pattern.
Robust and stocky body.
Skin very loose and flabby.
Head large and swollen, indistinct from neck.
Nostrils open on top of snout.
Two short rigid fangs in upper jaw.
Ventral scales much reduced in size. Tail laterally compressed and paddle-shaped.
Dorsal scales tuberculate. Adult males have spine-like tubercles on lower flanks.
Juveniles have smooth scales and develop tubercles as they mature.
Highly venomous and has occasionally caused human fatalities.
Inhabits shallow off-shore waters.
The specimen was purchased at an Aberdeen fish market in 1973.
Ranges from the Persian Gulf eastward to the Malay Peninsula, along the China coast up to Shandong, and southward to the north coast of Australia.