168 Dr. A. Giinther on Uriechis microlcpidotus. 



XVII. Description of Uriechis microlepidotus, a new Snake 

 from South Africa, By Dr. A. GUNTHER. 



[With a Plate.] 



PROFESSOR PETERS of Berlin has made known* a genus of 

 Calamarida with entire subcaudal shields, to which he has given 

 the name of Uriechis, and which is distinguished from Elapops, 

 Gthr., by having a long, grooved, posterior maxillary tooth. 

 In describing the latter genus t I took the opportunity of show- 

 ing the frequent occurrence of snakes with entire subcaudals in 

 the Palseotropical Region ; but 1 then overlooked Uriechis, the 

 two species of which (U. nigriceps, and U. lunulatus] have 

 been found, up to the present time, in Mozambique only. I 

 / have the pleasure of adding a third species from Port Eliattboth, 



/ r / in Algoa Bay, presented by F. H. Gurney, Esq., to the British 



Museum. 



Uriechis microlepidotus. (Plate IX.) 



Diagnosis. Scales in twenty-five longitudinal series; prse- 

 orbital united with the frontal. Colour uniform blackish ash. 



Description. This snake is in general appearance very similar 

 to Elapops or Atractaspis. The rostral is broader than high, and 

 reaches just to the upper surface of the head, terminating above in 

 an obtuse angle. The exterior frontals are subquadrangular, half 

 the size of the posterior ones, which, being united with the prse- 

 orbital, are bent downwards and extend to the orbit and the 

 third upper labial. The vertical is five-sided, with a posterior 

 right angle, with the anterior side longest, and the two lateral 

 edges shortest : the shield is about as broad as long. The occi- 

 pitals do not show any peculiarity in form. The superciliary is 

 small, not much longer than broad. There is one elongate 

 nasal only, with the nostril at its upper margin ; a groove below 

 the nostril appears to divide the shield into two, which, on a 

 closer examination, is found to be single. One small posterior 

 ocular. Seven upper labials, the third and fourth of which 

 enter the orbit, which is very small ; the fifth touches the occi- 

 pital in the adult specimen, being separated from it in the young 

 one. There are three temporal shields, the anterior being the 

 largest ; another shield is situated on the posterior edge of the 

 occipital. The first pair of the lower labials forms a suture 

 behind the median one, which is very small ; there are two pairs 

 of chin-shields, the posterior being rather smaller than the an- 

 terior. Eight lower labials. The trunk is surrounded by 

 twenty-five scales ; there is a series of larger scales along the 

 middle of the upper part of the tail, but not yet distinct in the 



* Wiegm. Archiv, 1855, p. 52. 



t Ann. & Mag. Nat. Hist. 1859, ser. 3. vol. iv. p. 161. 



