Diagnostic characters
Scales hexagonal, juxtaposed, in 27–34 rows on the neck, 37–50 at midbody; ventrals 226–274, anteriorly about half the width of the body, narrowing posterior to about twice the width of the adjacent scales, or slightly less; head shields entire, nostrils superior, nasal shields in contact with one another; prefrontals longer than broad, not in contact with upper labials; 1, rarely 2, pre- and 1–2 postoculars; 7-9 upper labials, 3–5 bordering eye (sometimes only 3–4 or 4–5); usually 1 anterior temporal, occasionally 2 or 3; body color, more or less bicolored, gray above, white below, the 2 usually clearly demarked on the sides, often with 25–35 dark rhomboidal spots, rarely with dark bands. Total length males 925 mm, females 820 mm; tail length males 100 mm, females 80 mm.Distribution
Northern coasts of the Indian Ocean and western Pacific: from theReferences
* Boulenger,G.A. 1888 Description of two new snakes from Hong Kong, and note on the dentition of ''Hydrophis viperina''. Ann. Mag. nat. Hist. (6) 2: 43-44 * Murray,J.A. 1887 Three New Species of ''Hydrophis''. J. Bombay Nat. Hist. Soc. 2: 32–35. * The Reptile Database (http://reptile-database.reptarium.cz/species?genus=Hydrophis&species=viperinus).External links
* http://itgmv1.fzk.de/www/itg/uetz/herp/photos/Thalassophina_viperina.jpg * http://itgmv1.fzk.de/www/itg/uetz/herp/photos/Thalassophina_viperina_juv.jpg viperinus Reptiles of Bangladesh Reptiles of Myanmar Reptiles of Cambodia Reptiles of China Reptiles of India Reptiles of Indonesia Reptiles of Iran Reptiles of Japan Reptiles of Malaysia Reptiles of Pakistan Reptiles of the Philippines Reptiles of Sri Lanka Reptiles of Taiwan Reptiles of Thailand Reptiles of Vietnam Reptiles described in 1852 Snakes of China Snakes of Vietnam Snakes of Asia Reptiles of Borneo {{Elapidae-stub