Synopsis of the Snakes of the Philippines A Synthesis of Data from Biodiversity Repositories, Field Studies, and the Literature Author Leviton, Alan E. Herpetology Division, Institute of Biodiversity Science & Sustainibility, California Academy of Sciences, 55 Music Concourse Drive, San Francisco, California 94118 & Research Associate, Division of Amphibians & Reptiles, Department of Vertebrate Zoology, National Museum of Natural History, Smithsonian Institution, Washington, DC, USA. aleviton@calacademy.org Author Siler, Cameron D. Department of Biology and Sam Noble Museum, University of Oklahoma, 2401 Chautauqua Ave., Norman, OK 73072 - 7029, USA & Zoology Division, National Museum of the Philippines, Rizal Park, Burgos Ave., Ermita 1000, Manila, Philippines. camsiler@ou.edu Author Weinell, Jeffrey L. Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology and Biodiversity Institute, University of Kansas, Lawrence, Kansas 66045 jweine2@gmail.com Author Brown, Rafe M. Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology and Biodiversity Institute, University of Kansas, Lawrence, Kansas 66045 & Zoology Division, National Museum of the Philippines, Rizal Park, Burgos Ave., Ermita 1000, Manila, Philippines. rafe@ku.edu text Proceedings of the California Academy of Sciences 2018 Oxford, England 2018-03-29 64 14 399 568 http://dx.doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.11512589 journal article 299690 10.5281/zenodo.11512589 d7a23684-9222-422b-868a-6c8712a4fd05 0068-547X 11512589 Hydrophis [ Chitulia ] belcheri ( Gray, 1849 ) Belcher’s Sea Snake; Faint-banded Sea Snake Aturia belcheri Gray, 1849:46 . Hydrophis belcheri , Smith, 1926:52 .— McCarthy, 1993c:230 .— David and Ineich, 1999:105.— Ferner, Brown, Sison, and Kennedy, 2001:54 [21].— Rasmussen et al., 2011:5 .— Leviton, Brown, and Siler, 2014:503. Chitulia belcheri , Wallach, Williams, and Boundy, 2014:163 . TYPE LOCALITY AND TYPE SPECIMEN ( S ) .— New Guinea . Holotype : BMNH 1946.1.1.97 (formerly BMNH III.3.2.a ; fide Smith [1926:53] ). PHILIPPINE DISTRIBUTION ( Map 17A [p. 128]).— Philippines , unknown, although Alcala (1986a:166) states that it “has been recorded from the central Philippine sea.”; see also comment by Ferner et al. (2001:54 [21]), who cite Alcala (1986). Otherwise, it has been reported from the coastal waters off of Vietnam in the South China Sea ( Rasmussen et al. [2011:5] ). GENERAL DISTRIBUTION ( OTHER THAN PHILIPPINES ) .— Gulf of Thailand, Vietnam, Indonesia, and New Guinea. (N.B.: David and Ineich [1999:105], citing earlier discussions by McDowell [1972:217] and McCarthy and Warrell [1991:162–163], refer the Australasian records to Hydrophis pacificus , but see also Kharin [2005:161], whose observations heighten the confusion regarding the identification of samples of populations supposedly belonging to H. belcheri . See also comments by Rasmussen [2001] relating to H. coggeri .) CONSERVATION STATUS [IUCN] .— Data Deficient [2016] ver. 3.1.