Microcephalophis cantoris ( Guenther , 1864)

Rezaie-Atagholipour, Mohsen, Ghezellou, Parviz, Hesni, Majid Askari, Dakhteh, Seyyed Mohammad Hashem, Ahmadian, Hooman & Vidal, Nicolas, 2016, Sea snakes (Elapidae, Hydrophiinae) in their westernmost extent: an updated and illustrated checklist and key to the species in the Persian Gulf and Gulf of Oman, ZooKeys 622, pp. 129-164 : 151-154

Taxon classification Animalia Squamata Elapidae

Microcephalophis cantoris ( Guenther, 1864) Figures 25, 26

Hydrophis cantoris Günther, 1864: 374.

Material examined.

Gulf of Oman: 1 specimen, Jask and Ras-Meydani, depth 18-50m [(ZMSBUK.HD.), TL 1124, SVL 992, HL 33.5, HW 12.3, GL 20.2, SNL 5.1, NEL 4.4, ND 51, GBD 101, NSL 6, NSR 24, BSR 41, NV 446], October and November 2013, collector: M. Rezaie-Atagholipour.

Diagnosis.

Head extremely small and pointed (Figure 26); third supralabial usually in contact with prefrontal (Figure 25a); body elongate, markedly slender anteriorly; neck markedly slender (Figure 26d); 24 scale rows on neck [23-25 (rare ly 21) ( Leviton et al. 2003)] and 41 on body; 446 ventrals [404-468 ( Leviton et al. 2003)].

Coloration.

Head yellowish; neck and body dark olive dorsally, yellowish ventrally; dorsal portion of body uniform in color and not banded; neck with the rings paler dorsally and black ventrally (Figure 26d); [Dark greenish olive dorsally, yellowish ventrally; ventrals blackish; dorsal portion of body uniform in color and not banded; slender part of body with 20-28 blackish bands merging dorsally and ventrally ( Günther 1864)].

Size.

TL 1124 mm (n = 1) [1450 mm in males and 1880 mm in females ( Leviton et al. 2003)]

General distribution.

Indian Ocean, from the Gulf of Oman to Malay Archipelago.

IUCN Red List Category.

Data deficient ( IUCN 2016).

Remarks.

It is the first record of Microcephalophis cantoris in this area. By this record, westernmost extent of Microcephalophis cantoris expands from Pakistan to the Gulf of Oman. Safaei and Esmaili (2009) recorded four specimens of this species from the same area localities (Jask), but they have presented neither morphological data nor descriptions of the specimens. Furthermore, their specimens were not deposited in any public museum or collection and we couldn’t find them for further morphological examination. Regarding the single specimen examined herein, the shape of the fangs was found to be unique: elongated fangs markedly protruding outside the lower jaw when mouth is closed. This unusual characteristic could be age-dependent or likely a specific character which was overlooked by other authors. Further studies on this specimen are much recommended.