AUSTRALIAN SNAKES. 



Yellow-bellied Sea Snake. 



Hydrus 2)^^iurus, Linn£eus. 

 Plate 16. 



71 



S. 45-47, V. none. 



This is onr commonest species, and is not in- 

 frequently cast upon the beaches around Port Jackson, 

 after gales : it has also been taken with the hook, and 

 landed under the impression that it was an eel ; it 

 seldom exceeds 3 feet in length. It is a typical Sea 

 Snake, as exemplified by the nostrils being situated on 

 the top of the snout, by the absence of distinct 

 ventral plates, and by the scales on the body being laid 

 edge to edge. The coloration of this snake is very 

 variable, the majority of examples are simply black 

 above and yellow beneath, the two colors sharply defined, 

 the tail is generally yellow with black spots. 



THE END, 



