HYDROPHIS MAJOR. 363 



Cantor ; they were captured on the coasts of Madras and Pinang. The largest is 35 inches 

 long, the tail measuring 4 inches. We have given three views of its head, of the natural size. 



Hydrophis stokesii. 



Hydrus major, Shaw, Zool. iii. p. 558, descript. part : " and in one specimen, &c.," third line 



from bottom ; not figure. 



stokesii. Gray, in Stokes, Australia, i. p. 502. tab. 3 (very good). 



Hydrophis schizopholis, Schmidt, Abhandl. Naturw. Hamb. 1846, i. p. 166. taf. 15. Bum. Sf Bibr. 



Erpet. gen. vii. p. 1357. 

 Hydrus major. Gray, Viper. Snakes, p. 58. 



annvdatus. Gray, Viper. Snakes, p. 59. 



Astrotia schizopholis, Fischer, Abhandl. Naturiv. Hamb. iii. p. 38. 



Head rather short and broad ; body stout. Two or three labial shields below the eye ; 

 two postoculars ; chin covered with scales, with no other shields but the mental and labials. 

 Forty-three to forty-seven series of scales round the neck. Scales rather small, much imbri- 

 cate, keeled, each keel being interrupted in the middle. The ventral shields are replaced 

 by two series of smooth scales, not larger than the scales of the adjoining series, the scales 

 of the two ventral series being arranged opposite to each other. Young specimens and 

 adult males with broad black cross bands, which either extend only over the back or entirely 

 surround the body. The interspaces between them are generally again divided by a narrow 

 transverse black streak or series of black spots. Old females nearly entirely uniform greyish 

 above and whitish below. 



I have examined eight specimens of this species, of different ages, and among them the types 

 of //. stokesii and H. annulatus. A very large and old female is 61 inches long, 4|^ inches 

 high, and has 10 inches in its greatest circumference. It is not rare on the northern coasts 

 of Australia, but its occurrence in the Chinese seas and in the East Indian Archipelago 

 (Singapore) is rather doubtful. 



Htdeophis major. (Plate XXV. fig. G.) 



Hydrus major, Shaiv, Zool. iii. p. 558, descript. pars & tab. 124. 

 Pelamis shavii, Merr. Tent. p. 139. 

 Hydrophis mentalis, Gray, Zool. Misc. p. 62. 



Head rather short and broad ; neck and body of moderate length. Only one labial shield 

 below the eye ; one postocular ; three temporal shields on the side of each occipital. Two 

 pairs of small chin-shields, the anterior of which are in contact with each other. Rostral 

 shield of moderate size, as broad as high, with a small lobule, and without notches below. 

 Thirty-one series of scales round the neck. Scales much imbricate, keeled, those on the 

 highest part of the body as long as high, rounded behind. The belly is covered with scales, 

 not different from those of the adjoining series; there are only a few ventral shields irregu- 



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