Hydrophis semperi, known in some circles as Garman's sea snake, is a rare sea snake found only in a single lake on the island of Luzon in the Philippines. It is noted for being one of two known species of sea snake (and the only one in its family) that is known to be found almost-exclusively in freshwater.
H. semperi is usually classified in the subfamily Hydrophiinae of the family Elapidae, although in some classification schemes, it and the res...
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Hydrophis semperi, known in some circles as Garman's sea snake, is a rare sea snake found only in a single lake on the island of Luzon in the Philippines. It is noted for being one of two known species of sea snake (and the only one in its family) that is known to be found almost-exclusively in freshwater.
H. semperi is usually classified in the subfamily Hydrophiinae of the family Elapidae, although in some classification schemes, it and the rest of the "true" sea snakes are instead grouped in the family Hydrophiidae.
Like all "true" sea snakes, it is a rather heavyset snake, elongated with a small head. It possesses the characteristic flattened, paddle-like tail found in the members of its subfamily. This particular species is considered short in comparison to the rest of the family; adult specimens of H. semperi that have been caught were in the realm of 50 cm to 70 cm in length. The snake is colored much like a typical sea snake, having a dark blue or black body with alternating...
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