HYDROPHIS MELANOSOMA. 367 



Hydeophis cyanocincta. The CMttul. 



Russell, Ind. Serp. ii. tab. 9. 



Hydrophis cyanocinctus, Baud. Rept. vii. p. 383. 



Leioselasme striee, Lacep. Ann. Mus. iv. p. 198. pi. 57. fig. 1. 



Hydrophis striata, Scltlcff. Faun. Japan. Rept. p. 89. pi. 7, and Phys. Serp. ii. p. 502. pi. 18. 



figs. 4 & 5. Fischer, Abhundl. Naturw. Hamb. 1856, iii. p. 41. Bum. ^ Bibr. Erpet. gen. vii. 



p. 1347. 



sublffivis, Gray, Zool. Misc. p. 62. Tennent, Nat. Hist. Ceylon, p. 311 c. fig. 



subannulata, Gray, Viper. Snakes, p. 54. 



Hydrus striatus, Cantor, Mai. Rept. p. 126. 



Head of moderate size and widtli ; neck and body rather elongate ; generally two labial 

 shields below the eye ; two postoculars (exceptionally confluent into one) ; two or more tem- 

 poral shields on the side of each occipital. Two pairs of chin-shields, the anterior of which 

 are in contact with each other. Twenty-nine to thirty-three series of scales round the neck. 

 Scales slightly imbricate, rhombic, faintly keeled, those on the highest part of the body 

 rather longer than high. Ventrals 320-360-406-426, twice or thrice as large as the scales 

 of the adjoining series ; almost all are entire, not longitudinally divided, and bitubercular ; 

 four anal shields, the outer of which are larger than the imier ; terminal scale of the tail 

 rather small, or of moderate size. Greenish olive on the back, yellowish on the sides and 

 belly ; trunk with from fifty to seventy-five black cross bands, which are broadest on the back, 

 and broader than the interspaces of the ground-colour ; they are narrower on the sides, some- 

 times disappearing altogether with age on the sides and belly, or visible only as irregular 

 spots on the ventral shields. In young and half-gro\vn specimens they surround the body 

 entirely, and are sometimes joined by a black band running along the whole line of the 

 ventral shields. The head is greenish olive above and yellowish on the sides ; in the young 

 black, variegated with yellow, the yellow colour sometimes forming a frontal and temporal 

 band. 



This is one of the commonest sea-snakes, occurring on the coasts of Ceylon, Madras, in the 

 Bay of Bengal, in the East Indian Archipelago, and in the seas of China and Japan. It attains 

 to a length of more than 6 feet. Old males have a remarkably thick and rounded tail. 



Hydrophis melanosoma. (Plate XXV. fig. E.) 



Head rather small and short ; neck and body elongate. Two labial shields below the eye : 

 one postocular ; only two large temporal shields on the side of each occipital. Two pairs of 

 chin-shields, the anterior of which are in contact with each other, the posterior being sepa- 

 rated by one or two small scales. Twenty-seven series of scales round the neck. Scales 

 distinctly imbricate, each with a smooth strong keel ; those on the highest part of the body 

 as high as long. Ventrals 335, twice as large as the scales of the adjoining series ; all are 

 entire, and the middle and posterior are provided with a pair of keels ; four anal shields, the 

 outer of which are rather larger than tlie inner. Terminal scale of the tail very small. The 

 black rings of the body are so broad that the yellowish ground-colour only appears in narrow 



