317 



Carapace long and narrow, posteriorly slightly broader than 

 anteriorly, males with a feeble vertebral keel; the shields 

 rugose. Nuchal shield as long as broad or a litte more broad 

 than long; first vertebral broader than second; second and third 

 more long than broad, narrower than the costals; fifth smallest. 

 Plastron long and narrow, cruciform, front lobe much narrower 

 than the carapace anteriorly, its longest portion more than 

 twice as long as broad ; intergular as long as or a little longer 

 than the suture between the pectorals; pectorals largest; suture 

 between the anals as long as or shorter than that between 

 the femorals. Head small and narrow. Fore limbs with a series 

 of six to nine transverse lamellae; digits entirely webbed, 

 with four claws. 



Brown above, yellow below. Young specimens dark olive 

 above, the shields bordered by narrow black lines, sometimes 

 with black dots. Length of shell 230 mm. (Not seen by me). 



Habitat: Saibai Island off South coast of New Guinea. — 

 Prince of Wales Island; Thursday Island; Cape York; N. & W. 

 Australia. 



2. Emydura Bp. 



(Bonaparte, Arch. f. Naturg. I p. 140, 1838). 



Jaws very strong, no alveolar ridges; parieto-squamosal arch 

 broad and short; parietal bones forming a roof; mandibular 

 symphysis at least as broad as the diameter of the orbit; chin 

 with or without short barbels. Neck shorter than the vertebral 

 column. Neural plates absent; nuchal shield present or absent; 

 plastron large; intergular between the gulars. Fore limbs with 

 five, hind limbs with four claws, digits entirely webbed. 



Distribution. Australia; New Guinea. 



Key to the Indo-Australian species. 



A. Uppei- surface of neck with small round tubercles ; 

 nuchal shield present ; barbels very small or absent. 

 I. The width of the bridge narrower than one third 

 the length of the plastron. 



a. Barbels present i. E. viacqiiarri p. 318. 



b. No barbels at all. 



1. Plastron broadly rounded anteriorly; a 

 yellow band between the eye and the ear, 

 and another from the corner of the mouth 

 along the neck 2. E. kreffti p. 318. 



