79 



TRITON TIGRINUS.— Grec«. 



Plate XXVI. 



Characters. Head large, snout rounded; body elongated, bluish-black, with 

 irregular lemon-coloured blotches; tail longer than the body, greatly compressed 

 at the sides, ancipital, and coloured like the body. 



Synonymes. Salamandra tigrina, Green, Jour. Acad. Nat. Scien. Philad., vol. v. p. 116. 

 Salamandra tigrina, Harlan, Med. and Phys. Res. p. 93. 



Description. The head is large, broad, flattened above and rounded in front. 

 The mouth is large; the tongue is broad, sub-round, entire, adherent posteriorly, 

 a little less so anteriorly, and is loose and movable only at its lateral margins. 

 The palatine teeth are arranged transversely in three groups; one begins behind 

 the outer margin of the posterior nares on each side, and runs for two lines 

 inwards and backwards; between the internal extremities of these groups, but on 

 a line a little in front, begins the largest group, which also runs transversely, but 

 is a little arched forward in the middle of the palate. 



The nostrils are latero-superior, near the snout, and open upwards. The eyes 

 are large and prominent, the pupil black, the iris golden, reticulated with brown. 

 The neck is contracted; the chin is smooth, and the throat has a transverse 

 strongly marked cutaneous fold. 



The body is robust and cylindrical; the tail is longer than the body, and 

 compressed at the sides so as to ofl'er a narrow margin above and below. 



