Hydrophis spiralis | UAE National Red List of Herpetofauna: Amphibians & Terrestrial Reptiles, Sea Snakes & Marine Turtles
Taxa
Hydrophis spiralis | (Shaw, 1802)
Location
Does the assessment cover a marine EEZ area(s)?
Off
Scope (Assessment)
National
Taxon
Taxonomic Group
Vertebrates
Taxonomic Group Level 2
Reptiles
Assessed taxon level
Species
Taxonomic Notes
This species has also been treated under the genus Leioselasma but is maintained in Hydrophis by Uetz et al. (2018).
Taxon distribution as listed in assessment
Presence of this species is confirmed within the United Arab Emirates marine territorial waters (Egan 2007, Soorae et al. 2006, Buzás et al. 2018). It is found from both the Arabian Gulf and the Gulf of Oman. On the east coast, it is found up to 3.2-6.5 km (Géczy et al. 2017, Buzás et al. 2018). The depth range is not certain; it is probably a bottom-dwelling species. There is a record from Khor Kalba on the east coast, and recent museum records are available for the UAE in the Al Mayya Sanctuary, Fujairah. Museum specimens from the region are available for Muscat (Oman; Boulenger 1887), Arabian Gulf and Iran (Gasperetti 1988).Globally, this species is found in the Arabian Gulf, east to Indonesia and the Philippines (Culotta and Pickwell 1993, Heatwole 1999). It has also been found in New Caledonia and the Loyalty Islands (Ineich and Rasmussen 1997).
Habitats and Ecology
Ecological system type
Habitat
Habitat details as listed in assessment
In the UAE, the species has been found on sandy-bottoms.Little is known about the life history of this species. It has been reported to occur in relatively deeper water habitats (Smith 1926) down to 50 m (Rasmussen et al. 2010). Feeds on eels. Records suggest that this species attains very large sizes of up to 2.75 m (Smith 1943). However, most specimens collected rarely ever even reach 2 m (Rasmussen et al. 2010). The largest specimen recorded in the UAE was a 186 cm long gravid female found stranded in Ras Al-Khaimah in 2014 January (Buzás et al. 2018). Based on post mortem data of the same specimen, the clutch size is up to 15 (B. Buzás and Cs. Géczy pers. comm. 2018).
Is there a map available in assessment?
Yes
Assessed status
Asessment status in full
Data deficient
Assessment status abreviation
DD
Assessment rationale/justification
Within UAE waters, this species is not well known and there are few records. Nothing is known of the population size or trend, and further research is required. The species is considered Data Deficient for the UAE at present because the available data are inadequate to assign the species to either Least Concern or to a threatened category, and research into this and other sea snakes should be a priority.
About the assessment
Assessors/contributors/reviewers listed
UAE National Red List Workshop
Affliation of assessor(s)/contributors/reviewers listed on assessment
Assessor affiliation specific
Government|IGO
Criteria system
Criteria system specifics
IUCN v3.1 + Regional Guidelines v4.0
Criteria system used
IUCN
Criteria Citation
IUCN. 2012. IUCN Red List Categories and Criteria: Version 3.1, Second edition. IUCN, Gland, Switzerland and Cambridge, UK. iv + 32pp pp. And IUCN. 2012. Guidelines for Application of IUCN Red List Criteria at Regional and National Levels: Version 4.0. Gland, Switzerland and Cambridge, UK: IUCN. iii + 41pp.
Endemism
Endemism Notes
Is an endemic?: Not_assigned
Conservation
Threats listed in assessment
They have the potential for entanglement in marine litter, including abandoned fish traps (garghoor), and pollution. The impact of oil spills and other marine pollution requires further study.
Conservation Measures
Conservation measures:
Scientific Name
Kingdom
Phylum
Class
Order
Family
Genus
Hydrophis spiralis
Animalia
Chordata
Reptilia
Squamata
Elapidae
Hydrophis
