Taxon name
Hydrophis spiralis
(Shaw, 1802)
Uploaded by
National Red List Database
Taxonomic information
Scientific name
Hydrophis spiralis
(Shaw, 1802)
Assessed taxon level
Species
Higher level taxonomic groupings
Vertebrates
Reptiles
Species authority
(Shaw, 1802)
Taxonomic notes and synonyms listed
This species has also been treated under the genus Leioselasma but is maintained in Hydrophis by Uetz et al. (2018).
Location and scope
Specific locality or subnational name or regional name
United Arab Emirates (the)
Scope (of the Assessment)
National
Countries included within the scope of the assessment
United Arab Emirates (the)
Does the assessment cover a marine EEZ area(s)?
Not_assigned
Conservation Status
Assessed as
Data deficient
Criteria system used
IUCN
(see Assessment details)
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.
Assessment details
Assessors/contributors/reviewers listed
UAE National Red List Workshop
Criteria system used
IUCN
Reference for methods given
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.
Further information
Endemism (according to assessment)
Endemic to region
Not assigned
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).
Is there a map available in assessment?
Yes
Habitat and systems
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).
Threats and conservation measures listed
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.
Publication
Els, J., Allen, D., Hilton-Taylor, C., Harding, K. (2019). UAE National Red List of Herpetofauna: Amphibians & Terrestrial Reptiles, Sea Snakes & Marine Turtles. MOCCAE, UAE
