134 



VENOMS 



(4) Hydrelaps. 



Snoot short ; (J teeth behind the poison-fangs ; nostril in a 

 single nasal shield ; head-shields large. Body feebly compressed ; 

 scales imbricate; ventral scales small, but well developed. 



H. darwiniensis . — 

 Body with yellowish- 

 white and blackish 

 annuli, the black rings 

 narrower on the belly; 

 head dark olive spotted 

 with black. 



Total length, 435 

 miilimetres; tail 48. 

 Habitat : North 

 Australia, 



(5) Hydrophis. 



(Fig. 79.) 



Poison-fangs large, 

 followed by a series of 

 7— ISsolidteeth. Head 

 small ; nostrils on the 

 upper surface of the 

 snout, pierced in a 

 single nasal shield ; 

 head - shields large ; 

 p r 86 o c u 1 ar present. 

 Body long, often very 

 slender anteriorly ; 

 scales on the anterior 



part of the body imbricate, rectangular, keeled or tubercular ; 



ventrals more or less distinct, very small. 



A considerable number of (at least 22) species of Hydrophis 



are known. Those most frequently met with are the following : — 



Fig. 79. — Hi/dropJiis covonatiis. 

 (After Sir Joseph Fayrer.) 



